Cárteles Unidos and Los Zetas Confront Each Other in Zacatecas

The Municipality of Zacatecas, Florencia de Benito Juárez, became a huge war zone when in the morning of this Friday several armed men appeared in late-model vehicles driving in convoys around the city that alerted the attention of local citizens.

The same morning two groups of sicaros triggered an intense, bloody confrontation between members of the United Cartels (Cárteles Unidos) and Los Zetas, who used the town as a battle field, causing terror and panic among the residents. The shootings lasted for several hours were the criminals also used grenades to attack each other.

According to witnesses, the same gunmen picked up their dead or wounded comrades, and the confrontation continued until one group was finished. Hours later after the shooting was over the State Police and the Mexican military arrived to stop the violence, but only found a bloody empty scene.

The officially statement from authorities was that 10 bodies were found at the scene, but reliable sources who witnessed the violent event said that at least 28 gunmen were killed and several wounded.

Police at the scene seized an AK-47 rifle, a fragmentation grenade, a 40mm grenade, a 9mm magazine, a disc magazine for an AK-47, 79 rounds of ammunition for an AR-15, 101 rounds of ammunition for AK-47, several magazines, an armored Hummer, two double-cabin pickup trucks, four armored double-cabin pickup trucks, an armored SUV, among others vehicles.

It is believed but not entirely confirmed that the Carteles Unidos (United Cartels) of Jalisco are made up of Cartel del Pacifico, La Resistencia, la Familia and possibly the Gulf Cartel.

The complete official statement:

The Attorney General, Arturo Nahle Garcia, said that the violence was the results of a group of men calling themselves Carteles Unidos (United Cartels), who have recently made a presence in the region, and it appears that this criminal organization is fighting Los Zetas for control of the plaza.

At least six trucks were left abandoned near the edge of a dam which is located near the center of the town, and the state attorney general said that an investigation is in the process to find out what happened and to determine the identification of the dead sicarios.

The Secretary of Public Security, General Jesus Pinto Ortiz, and the director of the State Preventive Police, General Victor Manuel Bosque, were escorted by a significant number of troops from the state Preventive Police and the Mexican military conducted patrols around the streets of the town to reassure the residents that everything was in order.

General Jesus Pinto Ortiz confirmed that the situation was now under control, and it is so now up to the Attorney General to finish their work in order to determine the origins of the suspects that were killed.

He further indicated that there is a joint operation in place with the police in Jalisco to attempt to locate the suspects that fled in the direction of the municipality of Chimaltitán.


Five sicarios are Kille din Jalisco, authorities secure home made tank.

Jalisco and Zacatecas Authorities are investigating whether the groups were involved in this shooting are part of the cells in Zacatecas that faced each Friday leaving at least 10 dead.

At least two shootouts between policemen and armed groups in northern Jalisco against alleged gunmen left five sicarios dead and three policemen injured.

Eligio Rivera Gonzalez commander of Mezquitic Department of Public Safety, said in a valley adjacent to the state of Zacatecas, officers of the police agency were attacked with gunfire by a commando on board several trucks.

In the subsequent confrontation five sicarios were killed. So far authorities have not been able to identity of the deceased or the criminal organization to which they belonged.