Cartel Attack at Mexican Funeral Home Leaves One Dead near Arizona

Four cartel gunmen stormed a funeral home late last week in the Mexican border city of San Luis Río Colorado, opening fire on mourners for a male homicide victim who was gunned down the day prior. Friends of the deceased returned fire, wounding one of the attackers. In total, one mourner was killed and two were wounded and along with the cartel gunman.

The attack occurred on Thursday afternoon at approximately 5:30 pm. The man being mourned was identified as Luis “N” aka “El Cuate,” who was murdered the day before at his residence. As a result of the cartel gunfire, a male identified as Gerardo “N” died at the scene while a female identified as Araceli “N” sustained at least one gunshot wound.

Mourners of El Cuate returned fire and set off a chase between the two groups, according to a media release from the State Attorney General’s Office of Sonora. Security personnel were then deployed to include municipal and state police, investigative personnel of the state attorney general’s office, and elements of the Mexican Navy. As a result, four gunmen were arrested to include two the original aggressors and two of the mourners—identified as Ramón “N,” 24, from Navojoa, Sonora, and Mauro “N,” 26, from Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Also arrested were Guillermo “N,” 40, and Rubén Arnoldo “N,” 35, both of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, who were originally at the funeral home.

A total of two pistols were recovered during the ensuing security operation and investigators recovered 50 spent shell casings at the crime scene.

San Luis Río Colorado is a key strategic location for drug gangs affiliated with cartels in the area. Breitbart News reports extensively on cartel activities in the vicinity.

In April, 250 pounds of methamphetamine were seized by investigative personnel from the federal prosecutor’s office and Mexican Army.

Also in April, the Mexican Army and state police seized 12,260 fentanyl pills and 34 grams of cocaine at a military checkpoint.

In February, Mexican federal police seized over 550 pounds of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl in a truck abandoned by smugglers after a pursuit near San Luis Río Colorado.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.)