PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Coahuila – A law enforcement officer who was part of a cartel hunting task force died in a local ambush. The fierce shootout also killed a city official who was caught in the initial crossfire.
The violence took place this week in Piedras Negras when an unknown individual called authorities to report a shootout in the Hacienda de Luna neighborhood. Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart News that members of the elite cartel fighting unit Fuerza Coahuila responded–only to be fired upon by a team of gunmen who set a trap.
During the battle, Piedras Negras Police took to social media to warn locals away from the area.
CÓDIGO ROJO. Precaución. Actividad de riesgo en diversos puntos de la ciudad. Se recomienda mantenerse en reaguardo. Autoridades de Policia coordinadas en trabajos.
— Policia_PNegras (@Policia_PNegras) December 25, 2018
In the firefight, gunmen managed to kill a Fuerza Coahuila officer. The hitmen also shot a passing motorist, identified as Armando Valdes, a local attorney and acting city manager.
Municipio #PiedrasNegras manifiesta su pesar, por el sensible fallecimiento del Lic. Armando Valdés Rodríguez, expresamos nuestras condolencias. pic.twitter.com/2XxxLPFdnP
— Mpio Piedras Negras (@MpioPNegras) December 25, 2018
After the shootout, the gunmen fled the scene by carjacking various vehicles to cover their escape routes. The attackers were responsible for at least five separate auto thefts during their successful getaway. In the aftermath, Coahuila’s Attorney General Gerardo Marquez Guevara revealed that the ongoing investigation suggests Valdes’ death was purely due to crossfire and was not premeditated.
The gunmen are believed members of the Northeast Cartel faction of Los Zetas, which is making a new push for control of the region. The crime wave follows a series of high-profile kidnappings and carjackings, which have spread fear among locals.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila.
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