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Caribbean-Latin America
Gunmen kill 15 in Mexico-US border town
2021-06-22
[DW] More than a dozen people were killed when button men in vehicles opened fire in several districts of the city of Reynosa, close to the US border.

Gunmen in sports utility vehicles shot some 14 people in different parts of the Mexican border city of Reynosa, according to reports on Sunday.

Another person was reported to have been killed in an attack on police near a border bridge.

Criminal activity in the city — which lies across the border from McAllen, Texas — has long been dominated by the Gulf Cartel, but splits are thought to have developed in the gang.

Local media reports on Sunday put the corpse count as high as 18.

The attacks began early Saturday afternoon in several neighborhoods in the eastern part of Reynosa, according to the Tamaulipas state agency that coordinates security forces.

The identity of the victims and the attackers was initially unknown, as well as the motive.

"Investigations were initiated to establish the causes of the homicides and locate those responsible, particularly in the surveillance and patrolling actions that are carried out in various parts of Reynosa," said an official report.

The violence mobilized the army, National Guard, state police and other agencies.

SPIRALING DEATHS IN BATTLE FOR CONTROL
Mexico has seen its two bloodiest years ever, with 34,681 recorded murders in 2019 and 34,554 in 2020.

Various cartels are battling for control of smuggling routes to the US that are used to transport drugs, weapons and people.

Successive governments have failed to bring the crime syndicates under control. Many have accused law enforcement and the judiciary of colluding with the gangs, or of having succumbed wholesale to corruption.

Spiraling homicide statistics, instability and high levels of corruption have led some US commentators to conclude that Mexico is on the path to becoming a failed state.

Current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has said he wants to fight cartels with "hugs not bullets."

Lopez Obrador has criticized past administrations for their policies that prioritized the removal of cartel leaders.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has declined to pass judgment on the policy, saying he does not know what it means in practice.
Related:
Reynosa: 2020-04-05 At Least 19 Killed in Clashes Between Armed Groups in Mexico
Reynosa: 2020-02-26 Gulf Cartel Border City Turf War Kills at Least 20 Gunmen, Innocents in Week
Reynosa: 2020-02-25 $18 Million in Meth, Heroin, Cocaine Seized at Texas Border Crossing
Related:
Tamaulipas: 2021-05-23 Tensions Rise Between Mexican Border State and Federal Government amid Governor's Prosecution
Tamaulipas: 2021-02-07 14 die in Juarez assassinations Saturday
Tamaulipas: 2021-02-04 12 Mexican Kops arrested over Camargo massacre
Posted by:trailing wife

#6  14 shot and 15 dead,
you know it ain't the Bronx.
Hi-calibers, tight grouping,
it's Montezuma's gonks!
Posted by: Dron66046   2021-06-22 22:01  

#5  Until the local civilians are willing to do what the civilians in Coffeyville, KS did to the Dalton gang, it is never gonna end.
Posted by: DarthVader   2021-06-22 14:43  

#4  Fear shakes Mexico border city after violence leaves 18 dead
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-06-22 08:55  

#3  God's children
Hijos de Dios
Posted by: Snong Poodle6911   2021-06-22 07:49  

#2  Good thing guns are almost totally banned in Mexico - just think how many killings they would have.
Posted by: Glenmore   2021-06-22 00:52  

#1  "O Mexico! Holy refrito,
One never will meet a bandito
In this sweetest of lands--"
"Buenos... ayyy, Señor Franz!"
[tips his hat to the head of Carlito]
Posted by: Menhadden Shomomp7752   2021-06-22 00:42  

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