14th Mexican Border State Policeman Gunned Down in 2019

A Mexican police officer was murdered in the border city of San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, Wednesday morning by cartel gunmen. The total number of officers killed in the state is now 14 in 2019.

Daniel Armenta-Santos, a member of the municipal auto-theft unit, was ambushed by cartel gunmen as he was arriving at his residence. The attackers were in a white Chevrolet Malibu. Officer Armenta-Santos was able to return fire despite his wounds and radio for assistance. Emergency personnel transported Armenta-Santos to a local hospital where he later died in surgery.

Responding officers were unable to immediately locate the cartel gunmen but minutes later, a Toyota sedan and Nissan Altima crashed into each other a short distance away. An auxiliary police officer witnessed the accident and observed an armed individual exit the vehicle. A search led to the discovery of a ballistic vest abandoned inside one of the cars. All occupants fled on foot and were not captured.

At approximately 2:30 am, a white Chevrolet Malibu was located on Colima Avenue and 20 Street. The abandoned sedan had numerous bullets strikes and was processed for evidence by personnel from the state attorney general’s office.

Breitbart News reported Thursday that a total of 1,800 Mexican National Guard personnel deployed to Sonora in July to help fight the escalating violence attributed to cartel and gang turf wars. The violence is attributed to an ongoing territorial dispute between the Sinaloa Cartel and the Beltran Leyva organization’s regionally aligned gangs.

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.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com.