WATCH: Driver Escapes Los Zetas Cartel Blockade in Mexican Border City

A video leaked by citizen journalists captures the moment when a driver barely escapes from cartel gunmen in Nuevo Laredo. Blockade reports are becoming commonplace in the border city amid numerous shootouts in recent days, prompting consular officials to warn against crossing into Mexico.

The dashcam footage shows when a driver pulls up to an intersection only to find it blocked by gunmen with SUVs. The driver puts the vehicle in reverse to avoid a chase. The driver then moves forward and is able to slip around the gunmen and flee. The passengers in the vehicle can be heard speaking in English with American accents.

Aquí se ve mejor #OJO #NuevoLaredo #Tamaulipas pic.twitter.com/8SE13UzrJ0

— La Voz Del Pueblo (Oficial) (@LPueblo2) January 7, 2020

The video was originally leaked by the citizen journalists with La Voz Del Pueblo who claim it took place in recent days in Nuevo Laredo. The video’s timecode states the incident occurred in the morning hours of January 3. The contributors behind the page work to expose some of the violence in Nuevo Laredo that regularly goes unreported by local news outlets.

Nuevo Laredo is a hub of violence as the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas continues to hold a tight grip on the region while seeking to expand turf elsewhere. In recent days, Tamaulipas authorities came close to capturing one of the CDN-Los Zetas top leaders, Hector Raul “El Tory” Luna Luna, who managed to escape but was wounded in the process. That operation led to a series of attacks on law enforcement and civilians. The violence escalated to several hours-long shootouts, which prompted Texas authorities and the U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo to issue travel warnings.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.