Cartel gunmen killed a Mexican police officer and kidnapped the rest of his squad following a brazen ambush near the Texas border on Sunday. As information about the shootout was released to the media, it became clear officials from Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon were openly denying each other’s versions of the event.
A group of officers with the Nuevo Leon State Police Civil Force was pursuing an SUV through a rural road, near that state’s border with Tamaulipas, when they were ambushed by a group of gunmen in two black SUV’s, Mexico’s Proceso Magazine initially reported.
During the shootout one officer died, another was seriously injured, and the gunmen kidnapped seven other cops. Authorities were able to track down and rescue six of the kidnap victims, but a female police officer remains missing, and is believed to remain a captive of the cartel.
Information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Tamaulipas government described the rescue of the missing Nuevo Leon agents, and stated the whereabouts of the missing female police officer remained unknown.
However, the head of the Civil Force, Jesus Gallo, claimed in a written statement on Monday that one of his officers had been killed, one was injured, and eight who were unhurt, but all personnel were accounted for.
According to Proceso’s reporting, sources within Nuevo Leon law enforcement allege the Tamaulipas cops never carried out the rescue they claim to have conducted, and the supposedly missing police officers merely hid in the brush until Nuevo Leon backup arrived.
The gunmen are believed to have fled to the border town of Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, located just south of Falcon Dam on the U.S. side. A Mexican police helicopter flew over the town, searching for the gunmen. The area these fugitives escaped to is considered a Zeta gang stronghold, but Mexican authorities have not confirmed if the Zetas or their rivals, the Gulf Cartel, were behind the attack.
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