Nine people were killed and three others wounded in drug-related violence in Monterrey, the capital of the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, a state Security Council spokesman said on Sunday.
The first incident occurred around 2:30 a.m., when gunmen riding in a vehicle opened fire on the Cafe Iguana in downtown Monterrey, killing four people.
The gunmen fired assault rifles at a group of men standing outside the popular cafe.
Three of the men died in front of the cafe and another between some cars in the parking lot.
Unidentified individuals removed three of the bodies from the crime scene without any interference from the municipal police officers who had responded to the shooting.
Paramedics transported three people wounded in the attack to hospitals in Monterrey.
Soldiers patrolling the highway to Reynosa, a border city located east of the metropolitan area, were attacked around 3:30 a.m. when they ordered a vehicle to stop.
The vehicle’s occupants ignored the order to halt and opened fire on the soldiers, who gave chase.
The SUV crashed and burst into flames, killing the five men aboard.
Nuevo Leon and neighboring Tamaulipas state have been rocked by a wave of violence unleashed by drug traffickers battling for control of smuggling routes into the United States.
More than 1,300 people, including about 80 police officers, have died in the violence in Nuevo Leon in the past 14 months.
The violence intensified in the two border states after the appearance in Monterrey in early 2010 of giant banners heralding an alliance of the Gulf, Sinaloa and La Familia drug cartels against Los Zetas.
Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, known as “El Lazca,” deserted from the Mexican army in 1999 and formed Los Zetas with three other soldiers, all members of an elite special operations unit, becoming the armed wing of the Gulf drug cartel.
After several years on the payroll of the Gulf cartel, Los Zetas went into the drug business on their own account and now control several lucrative territories.
A total of 15,270 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico last year, and nearly 40,000 people have died since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the country’s cartels shortly after taking office in December 2006.
Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and Federal Police officers across the country to combat drug cartels and other criminal organizations.
The anti-drug operation, however, has failed to put a dent in the violence due, according to experts, to drug cartels’ ability to buy off the police and even high-ranking officials.
Source: EFE
Whenever a bunch of sicarios start a fight with some troops the soldiers always seem to wipe them out. Is it just the cocaine telling them its a good idea?
ReplyDeleteI lived in Monterrey for a year. this was my favorite nightspot i went there a lot. Im saddeed.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad to see all this violence happening in Monterrey right now. It was supposedly one of the most secure cities in Latin America less than a decade ago, and now it's suffering from all this violence? And it only seems to get worse as time goes on, at least from what I hear.
ReplyDeleteI don't live anywhere near here (or even anywhere near Mexico for that matter), but I have a close friend who does. I swear, every time I hear of these shootouts, I am always afraid that my friend is one of the victims. Thankfully, that hasn't happened yet (and hopefully it never will) and he tells me he's OK.
I hope the violence ends one day and Monterrey reverts back to its previous, secure self one day, but sadly I don't see that happening anytime soon at this rate.
PS: It also bothers me that apart from sites like these which focus on the drug war, Monterrey seems extremely neglected in the world as a whole, even when compared to other violent cities like Ciudad Juárez.
When the Cartel or Zetas cut heads , that means they want attention, thus began the fear tactics. Therefore, they look for someone to publish these horrid pics. But at the same time, they don't want publicity, at least the bad kind ??? or do they. WTF? And the USA, wants to continue drugs, why, because if it did not, this shit would have stopped years ago. You ask why? they want drugs , simply because, drugs in Laredo, McAllen , Brownsville , Eagle Pass and many cities in between make their base Economy. How do I know that, simply, because No City that size can support 15-20 Banks. If drugs are remove along with the Cartels, Banks fail.
ReplyDeleteBIG MONEY ALWAYS WINS, THE POOR DIE. WHERE IS KARMA WHEN YOU NEED HER? MONEY STILL TALKS AND BULL SHIT WALKS. FOR MORE INFO. RELATED TO MONEY, SEE ARRON RUSSO, on youtube.
This site gives the cartels what they want....scary publicity, its sad....
ReplyDeleteshyte..i have spent a lot of time there and was just telling a friend all about the barrio and how it was pretty safe ..i would expect monastario to get shot up ..not cafe iguana...fuck this drug war shit man...bad to see Monterrey die this way
ReplyDeleteThis was a long time ago, they caught 10 in relation to this. Cafe iguana was a hub for low level dealers. There's stories that will never be told about this. Like how the bodies where picked up by their friends who disposed of them, by disolving the bodies in acid. Someting they call a guiso or stew. Also, the owner of a heavy metal club down Calzada Morelos housed hitmen and helped in that and other attacks. He now resides in Playa Del Carmen near Cancun. Those 10 that where caught where in a zeta ruled prision, in Apodaca NL. Some of them where killed during a riot. The Cafe Iguana has now re-opened and the music is bumping once again. The beer is cold and people come and visit, but the general feeling is things will never be the same again. The things you learn, when you drink a few with a retired barman.
ReplyDelete