By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Four unidentified individuals were killed or were found dead in a series of intergang firefights in the southern municipality of Tampico Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, a total of 179 migrants were released from captivity by Mexican Army units over several days in four different cities in the state, according to official state and Mexican press accounts.
According to a news account in Proceso news weekly, two gunfights took place which left one dead. The first took place at La Puntilla market, while the second took place near the intersection of calles Aduana and Perimetral at a shopping center called Macalito.
Meanwhile in Tolteca colony, near the intersection of calles Nicolas Bravo and Rosalio Bustamante, armed suspects drove customers and employees from a children's playground, Castillo de SueĂąos, then torched the building, which was destroyed.
That afternoon, two men were executed in two separate incidents in Tampico. The first was near Hospital Militar, while the second was in Primavera colony, near a Coca Cola plant.
The next morning, Wednesday, two armed encounters took place in Tampico, the first at a nightclub on Avenida Universidad, which took place at around midnight and then at first light at the Seduccion disco, where Molotov cocktails were thrown. No one was reported wounded at either incident.
Mexico is in the middle of Semana Santa, or Holy Week, which is a major event in especially in Tampico, as residents and tourists as well take advantage of warm weather and Tampico's beaches to spend Easter Sunday. During Semana Santa, Mexican security is usually beefed up, and it has been announced so since last month that army and naval infantry forces would in the streets to provide security.
Ciudad Madero, a sort of twin city of Tampico is also the headquarters for the Mexican Navy Zona Naval 1, which is a large naval detachment. The Mexican Army maintains a large base near Ciudad Mante, about 60 kilometers away.
Busts in southern Tamaulipas
Units of the Mexican Army detained nine individuals and seized contraband in southern Tamaulipas municipalities in two separate operations Tuesday, according to official government news releases.
Just after noon, a Mexican Army road patrol encountered four suspects near Rancho Nuevo in Llera municipality, and detained all four. Inside the ranch house, soldiers found one unidentified man who had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom.
Soldiers also seized two rifles, two pistols, 124 rounds of ammunition, six weapons magazines, one stolen vehicle, and MEX $3,868.00 (USD $296.58) and USD $48.00 (MEX($626.03) in cash.
Meanwhile in Altamira, five unidentified male suspects were detained by a Mexican Army road patrol. In that incident, soldiers seized one rifle, 50 rounds of ammunition, two weapons magazines, four vehicles, 1,950 packages of marijuana, presumably wrapped for individual sale of marijuana, two cell phones and MEX $188,000.00 (USD $14,414.71) in cash.
Rescues
Since April 9th, Mexican security forces have rescued a total of 179 migrants in several separate operations, according to a news account posted on the website of Tamaulipas state government.
- April 9th: In Ciudad Madero a Mexican Naval Infantry unit located an freed 35 migrants, all from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Among the migrants was a four year old child. A total of three suspects were detained at the scene, identified as Hugo Cesar Rodriguez Niges, Servio Tulio Avalos Gonzalez and Ernesto Alvarado Machado. Sailors also seized three rifles, 132 rounds of ammunition, six weapons magazines and four vehicles.
- April 10th: In Reynosa municipality in Pedro J. Mendez colony, a Policia Federal unit rescued 76 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, totaling 65 and 11 women, who were kidnapped for ransom. No one was reported detained at the scene.
- April 11th: In the city of Tampico, 20 migrants were rescued by a Policia Estatal Acreditable unit as they were being loaded onto a bus for the United State. One suspects, identified as Eladio Lopez Cardona was detained at the scene. A total of 12 from Guatemala, four from Honduras and four from El Salvador were rescued.
- April 12th: In Matamoros municipality in Estancia Residencial colony, Mexican Army and Policia Estatal Acreditable units were dispatched to a residence based on an anonymous complaint to find 48 migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua detained by criminals. One suspect identified as Daniela Gomez Garcia was detained at the scene. The count of the kidnapping victims were 38 men, six women and four children.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com