A shootout in Mexico left 23 dead and led ATF agents to Houston
Source: Houston Chronicle
A shootout in Mexico left 23 dead and led ATF agents to Houston
Photo of St. John Barned-Smith
St. John Barned-Smith Aug. 13, 2020 Updated: Aug. 13, 2020 4:31 p.m.
The first shot sounded like a transformer exploding.
Narcedalia Padron Arizpe was at city hall Nov. 30 in Villa Union, the small Mexican border town where she serves as mayor.
Then bullets began hitting the building, ripping chunks of stucco from the walls. They slammed through glass, smashed through computers and left fist-sized holes in windows.
She dove for cover. Outside, a convoy of armored pickups emblazoned with CDN rumbled through the streets. Cartel gunmen, many who looked to be teens, spent hours shooting up the town with high-powered rifles -- with an arsenal later connected to a home just south of Houston.
"The whole pueblo convulsed," Arizpe said. "Everything was perforated."
State security forces responded hours later. Battles over two days claimed the lives of 17 cartel gunmen, four police officers and two unarmed residents of Villa Union. The attack by the Cartel del Noreste left residents traumatized and fearing for their lives, Arizpe said.
Investigators recovered 27 large-caliber weapons, including six .50-caliber Barrett rifles, 22 vehicles, and bulletproof helmets and vests.
Law enforcement in the two countries began investigating how American arms ended up fueling a violent gun battle in a town 43 miles across the border. U.S. agents tracked arms connected to the shootout. So far, prosecutors have charged 15 people in Texas in purchases of more than 100 guns suspected of having been trafficked to Mexico.
But experts in Mexico and the U.S. say law enforcement is fighting a losing battle, armed with low-grade charges that are little deterrent against trafficking rings motivated by a lucrative $125 million shadow industry.
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