State Police vs Los Metros in Miguel Alemán, Tamps

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat

Multiple videos of a half hour long gunfight that occurred between Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo, CDG) hitmen and State Police have been uploaded online. The shootout occurred in downtown Miguel Alemán city, in the state of Tamaulipas. 

Miguel Aleman sits near the divide of CDG Los Metros territory, with Metros holding Miguel Aleman, and Cartel de Noroeste (CDN) territory, with CDN allegedly holding the nearby city of Mier. That being said, CDN-Metros conflicts sometimes spread out to as far as Guerrero and Camargo municipalities.

It is likely the hitmen in the following state police encounter belonged to Los Metros and ultimately report to César Morfín Morfín, alias “El Primito” or “M300” and his brother Alvaro Noe Morfín Morfín, alias “R8”, who are in charge of the Frontera Chica region for Los Metros.

At approximately 1:40 am in the early morning of December 4, 2021, CDG hitmen traveling inside an armored black Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV ran into State Police patrol vehicles. 

The hitmen encountered the patrol cars on Miguel Alemán Boulevard in Miguel Alemán city, near the National Chamber of Commerce building. Both sides began firing at one another.

The gunfire led to the hitmen's black SUV being neutralized and it could no longer drive, which left the armed men stranded in the middle section of the road. Both groups continued to fire at one another while calling for reinforcements. The gunfire was reportedly so loud that across the US-Mexico border, residents in Roma, Texas could hear the shootout. 

Minutes after the SUV was neutralized, Army (SEDENA) soldiers from the military arrived at a nearby location in order to support the State Police officers. They began firing on the hitmen in the middle of the road from a different position,  in what newspaper El Mañana described it as “the umpteenth confrontation between civilian and military authorities.”

Video Source: La Estrella de la Noticia. No graphic content.

The SEDENA soldiers were reportedly equipped with anti-armor bullets which aided in suppressing the cartel gunmen who were barricaded inside their vehicle. However, despite authorities having two angles on the armed men and anti-armor bullets, the gunfight continued for over half an hour, some sources saying the fight lasted up to 45 minutes.

Unofficially, it was reported that the cartel group was made up of six hitmen, and that two hitmen were wounded by gunfire. 

According to reporting by El Mañana, the hitmen’s reinforcements arrived in vehicles and rescued the hitmen stuck in the middle of Miguel Alemán Boulevard. According to Tamaulipas SIn Censura, the reinforcements arrived in 4 reinforced pick-up trucks.

The cartel reinforcements then fled the area, now with the recovered hitmen in tow, speeding away in their vehicles. 

Video Source: La Estrella de la Noticia. No graphic content.

No one on either the authorities or hitmen’s side was reportedly killed and no arrests have been announced. The armored black Jeep Grand Cherokee was left abandoned in the middle of the street and later seized by authorities.

A white pick-up truck which appears to have taken heavy gunfire damage is seen in photos of the events. It may possibly be a State police vehicle, although this is unclear in the coverage of the event. No statement has yet been issued by either SEDENA or the State Police Intelligence Unit as of the writing of this story.

Sources: El Mañana, La Estrella de la Noticia, El Guzman, Noticias Tamaulipas Sin Censura

Video Sources: La Estrella de la Noticia Video 1, Video 2