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Updated with the corrected time and other new information
Mexican security authorities say a bad drug deal resulted in a massive shootout in a remote municipality (county) in Durango that killed 14 drug gang members, according to Mexican press reports.
The village of San José de la Cruz in the Otaez municipality was the scene of shootout between gang members late Thursday night. However, it wasn't until late Friday night that the Durango state Procuraduria General de Justicia (PGJE) confirmed the locations of the killings and the body count.
The areas where the shootout took place was La Mesa de Coconos and Mesa de Tabletas where police found most of the the bodies and six shot up pickup trucks. A number of tactical helmets and spent shell casings for AR-15 and AK-47 assault rifles were also found.
A local resident came upon the start of the shootout Thursday night, but took shelter until he was certain the shooting was over. The battle lasted two hours and included the use of hand grenades. Reports say every element involved in the gun battle died, and all the victims were residents of Otaez municipality.
Villagers reported several men managed to escape and take hostages with them.
Reports also say that Otaez is a known drug growing area, and that the gun battle may have been the result of drug transfers from the area.
It wasn't until Friday when the witness was able to contact the Durango state Agencia Estatal de Investigacion (AEI) that authorities became aware of the carnage.
This latest gunfight is the largest intergang confrontation in northern Mexico since the shootouts near El Saric and Tubutama in Sonora last August which killed in total more than 40 drug gang members, mostly members of the Sinaloa Cartel's Command X armed wing.
Otaez municipality is a remote location in the Sierra Madre Occidental about 75 kilometers west southwest of Santiago Papasquiaro, 150 kilometers west northwest of Durango, Durango.