For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon, click here. Additional information from Nota Roja
By Chris Covert
The death toll in a series of encounters between Mexican security forces and criminal drug gangs nearly tripled as 25 were killed in and near Vallecillo in Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican news reports.
To read Rantburg reports on the fighting in Vallecillo, Nuevo Leon, click here
The death toll for the weekend fighting included one Mexican soldier and two Policia Federal agents.
Reports say an additional eight armed suspects died Sunday probably during search operations by security forces following an early Saturday morning raid of a villa. Another five were killed Saturday during the series of firefights at a "narcoranch", now identified as El Rancho San Javier, along with the additional deaths of Mexican security personnel.
Mexican news reports say the ranch was used as a training and supply center for Los Zetas.
A total of 37 individuals have been killed in and around Vallecillo since October 7th, when the first of the encounters took place. The deaths included 31 armed suspects and six security operatives.
To read Rantburg reports on the initial encounter at Vallecillo, click here.
Vallecillo has suffered an increase in drug gang violence since October 14th when one leader of Los Zetas cartel, Jose Andres Mireles Quiroz, AKA El Chabelo, was detained last Friday. Reports are shootings in the area increased during that time.
In an unrelated shooting, three members of an unidentified family travelling aboard a minivan were shot to death on a remote Paras-Agualeguas road 11 kilometers south of Paras when armed suspects attempted to hijack the vehicle. Paras is 30 kilometers east southeast of Vallecillo on Nuevo Leon State Highway 2, near the Tamaulipas border.
The town clerk of Vallecillo was quoted by Milenio as saying criminal gangs have been appearing in and around the town for five months, and despite repeated efforts to inform state authorities, nothing had been done until last week.
Milenio also reported Monday that only four municipal police agents were left at Vallecillo, since three had resigned in the face of violence. Patrols by as many as 10 Nuevo Leon state police agents were increased in the area just prior to the last series of encounters.
Vallecillo, with a population in the of less than 2,500 inhabitants, is approximately 20 kilometers northeast of Sabina Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon. The town sits astride Mexican Federal Highway 85 that goes from Sabinas Hidalgo to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.
Nuevo Laredo is Los Zetas' only uncontested border crossing into Texas and the US. The area immediately north of Sabinas Hidalgo and north of Monclova, Coahuila is also known as Los Zetas territory, and is where numerous seizures by Mexican military forces of caches of weapons and munitions, as well as drugs awaiting transshipment into the US have taken place in recent weeks.
Security forces near Vallecillo Sunday seized five rifles, one handgun, eight 40mm grenades, 79 pairs of boots, 2,001 rounds of ammunition, personal quantities of marijuana and cocaine, two cell phones, and two vehicles.
An unidentified official with the Nuevo Leon Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones (AEI) hinted Tuesday that the area around Vallecillos may contain a number of graves of victims.