Thread: Gun Battle Erupts Near Border

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/pls/impre ... abla=miami


Gun battle errupts near border

Wire services
March 24, 2005

NUEVO LAREDO, Tamaulipas In less than six hours, this raucous border town saw the execution of a convict, a prison riot, the deadly ambush of a Mexican police officer, and a fiery shootout that ended just yards from the U.S. border and sent bystanders scrambling for cover behind telephone poles and concrete walls.

By the time it was over, two people were dead and seven injured, local authorities said.

"It's not every day that you face enemy fire from the other side of the border," said Laredo police Officer Octaviano "Tony" RodrÃÂ*guez, clutching a .45-caliber pistol after a gunbattle erupted near Laredo's International Bridge No. 1.

Already this year, at least 250 people have been killed in drugrelated violence along the border, including 27 in Nuevo Laredo, the federal Attorney General's Office (PGR) says. Drug gangs are fighting for control of the sprawling city of more than 400,000, a gateway to Interstate-35, often used to transport illicit shipments to Dallas and beyond, authorities say.

About 8 p.m. Tuesday, gunmen inside a state prison in Nuevo Laredo executed convicted trafficker Omar Ortega, 45, local authorities said. He had been playing tennis when he was shot in the head, said a city official. Additional details were not available.

Rioting broke out after the attack, and four people were injured. More than 200 state and federal police officers were sent in to restore order, said Rafael GarcÃÂ*a, a Nuevo Laredo city official.

In a second, unrelated incident early Wednesday, four assailants ambushed and killed Nuevo Laredo Police Officer SerafÃÂ*n Cruz, police said. The assailants tried to escape across the bridge into Laredo, but Mexican police killed one and shot and captured three others.

"These men, in their goal to escape Mexican justice, tried to cross into the United States and with the help of U.S. agents we were able to detain them," GarcÃÂ*a said. "Fortunately we had enough cooperation from both sides of the border to resolve this without more violence." "I ran into the bathroom and hid when I saw the shooting start," said Mario Hernández, 24, a cashier at a 24-hour money exchange house in Nuevo Laredo. "It was crazy." Authorities said the police officer's killing was linked to an ongoing turf war between alleged trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán and the Zetas, a group of ex-soldiers and others loyal to accused trafficker Osiel Cárdenas, now awaiting extradition to the United States.

"The battle continues to escalate with no truce in sight," a U.S. informant said on condition of anonymity. "It's the battle for control of the border." "What's clear is that these guys aren't thinking anymore," added RodrÃÂ*guez, a nine-year Laredo police veteran. "Tell President Bush we need better weapons to protect our border." Laredo police shut down the city's International Bridge No. 1 for nearly three hours after the gunbattle broke out at 1:05 a.m., sending late-night partiers from both countries scrambling for cover behind telephone poles and concrete walls.

"This is no way to bring back tourists," said Armando Carrizales, 24, a Nuevo Laredo cabdriver who saw the gunfight. "This isn't relaxing for anyone." Not all visitors seemed to mind the violence.

"It was bam-bam-bam," said Scott Marty, 41, a visitor from Wisconsin who ducked for cover after emerging from a club in Nuevo Laredo. "Would I come back? Yeah, sure. I go to Jamaica, and they shoot people there all the time. Travel's an adventure." Police didn't take the incident lightly.

"This was really scary," Laredo Officer Juan Jose Rubio said. "You see it on TV, but you never expect it to happen in your own hometown, right on the international bridge. It doesn't get closer than this."

I wouldn't pick up any vacation brochures from Mexico anytime soon!

Bush wants an open border with this ditch?

I figured this border stuff was going to come to flying lead, but not quite this soon!

Sure! Sure! Let's open the border...we need these kinds of people over here.

RR

Originally Posted by RoadRunner

I figured this border stuff was going to come to flying lead, but not quite this soon!

Sure! Sure! Let's open the border...we need these kinds of people over here.

Yes, we do, don't we? Wholesale massacre, gun battles, killing police officers ... just the jobs Americans don't want.

Dear Mr. President,

This comment came from the lips of a police officer in a border town connected to your friend's country:

"Tell President Bush we need better weapons to protect our border."

And this crap goes down in the same month that Condi Rice and President Bush meet with Vincinte Fox and announce 'everything is coming up roses!"

Open the border to what?

The crap is hitting the fan now isn't it folks. And Condi Rice wants to be your next president.

And this crap goes down in the same month that Condi Rice and President Bush meet with Vincinte Fox and announce 'everything is coming up roses!"

A thorny situation for sure!

http://www.lmtonline.com/news/s2.htm

An update on this story.

Prison head, guards taken into custody
By VICENTE RANGEL HERNANDEZ
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

NUEVO LAREDO - In a reversal of fortune, the head of the Cereso No. 2 and several prison guards are now inmates in the very prison they had been running, officials said Wednesday.

An investigation continues into the deadly gunbattle that left one man dead and several injured in the prison yard.

"We want to assure the family of those imprisoned here that we are going to guarantee their safety, while at the same time respecting their individual rights, but we must know why this confrontation occurred and, most of all, how those firearms made it inside the prison," said Luis Roberto Gutierrez Flores, head of the state's public safety office, during a news conference Tuesday.

He said that Alberto Lara Balderas, the prison director, and six prison guards were in the hands of the state prosecutor's office until the investigation determines who is responsible for the fracas. The men are charged with failing to stop the introduction of weapons and allowing inmates to take control of the prison.

Gutierrez Flores identified the guards as Miguel Angel Ceballos, Francisco Ramos, Epigmenio Ruiz de Leon, Lauro Mendez Vargas, Miguel Angel del Pozo Sanchez and Rodrigo Espinoza.

Officials said the fight resulted from a quarrel between two opposing groups of inmates at the federal penitentiary.

Late Tuesday night, it was reported that two inmates had died and several others were injured; when the smoke finally cleared in the early morning hours, only one man was dead.

He was identified as Omar Ortega Galindo, who was serving a five-year sentence related to a drug-trafficking conviction.

Among the injured were:

Jose Luis Sanchez Gonzalez, who was in prison for his alleged involvement in a confrontation with police March 4;

Waldo Tomas Treviño, who was serving a 10-year sentence;

Elder Heriberto Garcia Vazquez, serving a seven-year sentence;

Juan Jose Ake, who was visiting an inmate.

Gunfire broke out in the prison yard at about 8 p.m. Tuesday. Witnesses said an exchange of gunfire continued for about half an hour, before inmates retreated to a section of the prison. Outside the prison walls, officers from city, state and federal agencies, as well as the Mexican Army, spent several hours preparing to mount an assault on the prison, which finally occurred well past midnight. Order was quickly restored, officials said, and no other injuries were reported.

The resulting search of the prison turned up five weapons, including a machine gun.

03/24/05