9 Die in clash between rival cartels in Mexico
Reynosa, Mexico, Jun 29 (EFE).- Nine people were killed in a shootout involving members of rival drug cartels in the northern town of Miguel Aleman, sources close to the Mexican security forces told Efe Tuesday.
Residents of the town, located just across the Rio Grande river from Roma, Texas, reported hearing gunfire late Monday.
Authorities found nine bodies laid out on the highway linking the border city of Reynosa with Monterrey, the largest urban center in northern Mexico.
For more than a decade, the Northeast and Gulf cartels have battled for control of Miguel Aleman, which commands routes used to smuggle drugs and migrants into the United States.
The Northeast cartel is thought to be gaining ground on the long-established Gulf outfit in Tamaulipas state and appears to be dominant in cities such as Nuevo Laredo, which sits opposite Laredo, Texas.
Underworld violence has intensified in Tamaulipas in recent months.
Ten days ago, 15 civilians were among the 19 people killed in Gulf cartel-related shootings here in Reynosa. On Jan. 22, police discovered 19 charred bodies in a pickup truck in nearby Camargo, Tamaulipas.
Sixteen of the victims in that incident were Guatemalan migrants.
May was Mexico’s most violent month so far in 2021, with 2,963 homicides, while 2019 and 2020 rank as the deadliest years in the country’s modern history, with more than 34,000 murders in each of the 12-month periods. EFE
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