7 die in La Laguna

Coahuila state police patrol vehicle

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of seven unidentified individuals were killed in two separate incidents in the La Laguna region of Coahuila state Wednesday, according to Facebook notifications by the Coahuila state Fiscalia del Estado, or attorney general.

Four individuals were found dead in Torreon at around 2330 hrs late Tuesday night near the intersection of Calle Rumorosa and Avenida Bravo in Villa California colony.

Authorities responded to the scene following reports of shots fired.  The four victims all appeared to be in their 20s.  Thirty AK-47 spend cartridge casings were found at the scene.

Reports were that individuals travelling aboard two vehicles shot the victims.

Later, at about 1325 hrs Wednesday afternoon in Matamoros, Coahuila, three unidentified individuals were shot and killed by Coahuila state police agents. in a gunfight.

The shootout took place near the intersection of Calzada Cristobal Diaz and Avenida Presidente Carranza where individuals travelling aboard a Chevrolet Malibu sedan opened fire on a police patrol vehicle.

The vehicle had been carjacked a few minutes before the gunfight.  One shooter wielding a 9mm pistol managed to flee the scene and escape detention.  Police found one .223 caliber rifle, probably an AR-15 assault rifle at the scene.

Matamoros is ten kilometers east of Torreon on Federal Highway 40.

The La Laguna region continues to be under Segura Laguna security operation which combines security elements from federal, state and, local governments under a single command in a comprehensive effort to lower drug and gang related violence in the area.

Indications in Mexican press and elsewhere are at least one Policia Federal unit left the area six days ago, presumably for Zacatecas state to take up the slack for Mexican Army units deployed from Zacatecas state to Tamaulipas state.
To read the last Borderlandbeat.com report on the Segura Laguna security operation, click here
No announcement of the redeployment, however has been made by the Mexican Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP), the controlling agency for the Policia Federal.

The La Laguna region includes the cities of Ciudad Lerdo and Gomez Palacio, Durango, and Torreon, Coahuila.The region is astride the most northerly contiguous east-west road in Mexico, Federal Highway 40, which stretches from Mazatlan, Sinaloa on the Pacific coast of Mexico to Reynosa and Matamoros, Tamaulipas near the Atlantic coast.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com