Thread: Grenade launchers, armored vehicles and weapons seized in Reynosa gun battles

Grenade launchers, armored vehicles and weapons seized in Reynosa gun battles

MGN Online

Posted: Friday, May 2, 2014 11:23 am
By Ildefonso Ortiz, The Monitor

Mexican authorities seized armored vehicles, seven grenade launchers, 76 assault rifles and other items as a result of the recent clashes between factions of the Gulf Cartel as well as with authorities in Reynosa, where several deadly clashes have occurred this week.

The firefights, which began on Tuesday, have left a total of 17 dead including two bystanders and two federal police officers, Tamualipas government officials have said in news releases.

On Tuesday night, Mexican authorities raided a house in the La Fuentes neighborhood, which lies just off the city’s main avenue Boulevard Hidalgo. Authorities raided the house and inside they found 22 assault rifles, two grenade launchers, four grenades, a vehicle, more than six and a half pounds of crystal methamphetamine, as well as hundreds of small packages of marijuana and cocaine.

During the second raid, authorities fought a group of gunmen just after midnight Wednesday in the Los Caracoles neighborhood — about two miles east of the Anzalduas International Bridge. While the gunmen managed to flee, authorities seized three armored trucks, three grenade launchers, three grenades, 19 assault rifles, a handgun and more than 22 pounds of marijuana.

Authorities reported a seizure on Wednesday morning in the Caracoles neighborhood, where they found a vehicle with a body inside as well as 10 assault rifles, five grenades, ammunition rounds and magazines.

In yet another seizure just before noon Wednesday, authorities seized an abandoned vehicle with 25 rifles inside, two grenade launchers and 2,100 ammunition rounds.

Sources have said the recent surge in violence point to a scuffle within the Gulf Cartel over the command structure in areas across Tamaulipas’ northern border.

The firefights have come after Mexican Secretary of State Miguel Angel Osorio Chong praised Tamaulipas Gov. Egidio Torre Cantu for his work in regards to public safety at a press event Tuesday in the neighboring state of Coahuila, a news release from the Tamaulipas government shows.

“The governor is doing his job,” Osorio Chong said.
iortiz@themonitor.com

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Armored trucks found in Reynosa bunker

MGN Online

Posted: Wednesday, May 7, 2014 8:00 am
By Ildefonso Ortiz The Monitor

McALLEN — Mexican authorities announced they seized three armored trucks and a weapons cache they found hidden in a long, narrow bunker beneath Reynosa.

Acting on an anonymous tip, Mexican marines went to Reynosa’s Las Ceibas neighborhood — about 4 miles south of the Anzalduas International Bridge in Mission — where they found a bunker stretching more than 60 yards long, according to a news release from the Tamaulipas state government. The tunnel, which was about nine feet tall and 18 feet wide, had been used by cartel members to hide three armored pickup trucks, 1,121 ammunition rounds and three radios.

Shortly after discovering the bunker, Mexican marines went to the city of Rio Bravo, across the border from Donna, after getting an anonymous tip to a weapons cache.

Authorities seized another armored truck, a grenade launcher, 11 assault rifles, a handgun, two grenades, 1,667 ammunition rounds and various drugs.

Since last week, Mexican authorities have seized a series of armored vehicles and grenade launchers following a rash of daily shootouts. It was sparked by a violent internal conflict in the Gulf Cartel that has led to the deaths of 17 people, including two bystanders. Mexican officials have confirmed only 17 casualties, but it remains unclear whether the numbers actually are higher.

The shootouts have injured several bystanders, including a Reynosa junior high school student who was shot in the head at her school amid one of the shootouts.

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