CDN Battles Police, Kills Soldier, Burns 10 Gov't Vehicles in Los Aldamas, Nuevo León

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A confrontation with cartel hitmen near the border between Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, left a National Guard soldier killed and another soldier wounded.  Five police patrol cars, two Civil Forces vehicles and three National Guard vehicles were all burned by hitmen, who are presumed to be members of the Northeast Cartel (Cártel del Noreste, CDN).

The Battle

On the night of December 30, 2021, State Police officers were doing routine vehicular surveillance patrols as part of their duties at a checkpoint on the Peña Blanca-Comales highway. 

This checkpoint is located near the town of Los Aldamas, on the border between the state of Tamaulipas and Nuevo León, near the municipalities of Dr. Coss and Los Aldamas in Nuevo Leon, as well as Camargo in Tamaulipas, as seen below.

The police officers happened upon a group of armed men, who had at least one armored vehicle,  congregating near the Tamaulipas border. 

When the men spotted the police vehicle, they reportedly ducked for cover in the brushy undergrowth to the side of the highway and opened fire on them with high-powered rifles;  Dominion Medios reported that the hitmen used multiple 50-cal rifles during the attack. The State Police returned fire towards the hitmen. 

According to Frontera Al Rojo Vivo, after a series of back and forth bursts of gunfire between the two groups, the officers reportedly ran out of ammunition, which forced them to abandon their patrol vehicles and retreat to another position, in a different spot of brushy undergrowth near the highway where they radioed, asking for support from other security forces. 

Vanguardia reports that during this time, the hitmen approached their empty patrol vehicles and set them on fire. 

Soldiers from the National Guard, who were nearby, responded to the radio request for support and approached the battle location but the cartel hitmen ambushed their approaching vehicle. This reportedly caused the death of National Guard soldier Carlos Miguel "N". 

The confrontation was then joined by soldiers of the Civil Force and more from the National Guard. 

The hitmen reportedly used fragmentation grenades on their vehicles, which eventually caused three National Guard vehicles and two Civil Forces vehicles to catch on fire. During the series of gunfights, police officer Elizabeth "N" reportedly received a gunshot wound to her ankle. 

Eventually, even more reinforcements arrived, both from the Army (SEDENA) and from the Ministerial Police.

The confrontation stopped, although it is unclear how exactly it ended.  It is presumed that some of the hitmen managed to escape as no arrests or deaths of armed men were reported in the government press release on the incident. 

In total, the confrontation resulted in one dead National Guard soldier, one injured police officer, five police patrol cars, two Civil Forces vehicles and three National Guard vehicles destroyed from fire damage.

The Cartel Landscape of the Area

Website Frontera Al Rojo Vivo alleges the hitmen from this shooting belonged to the Northeast Cartel (Cártel del Noreste, CDN). Los Aldamas municipality has previously been the location of a deadly ambush on National Guard soldiers by CDN, as back in May 2021, a confrontation occurred that left 15 soldiers wounded and one dead. Videos of that confrontation can be seen in this previous article by MX.

The region near Dr. Coss and Aldamas has been a hotbed for battles between the CDN against Gulf Cartel (Cartel Del Golfo, CDG) forces under the leadership of "El Primito"  in the last few months. On September 20, 2021, burned out vehicles and fresh graffiti tags for CDN were found in General Bravo municipality after an alleged CDN and CDG battle, as previously covered here. On October 15, 2021, SEDENA soldiers found six burned out monstruos (or monster trucks, specially armored cartel vehicles designed for battle) left from an alleged CDN against CDG confrontation, as previously covered on Borderland Beat here.

Reports say that the CDN commanders in the Los Aldamas and Dr Coss region are Ricardo Chapa, alias “El Ricky” and a man known by the alias “'El Amarillo”. They allegedly report to the overall leader of CDN Juan Gerardo Treviño Chavez, alias “El Huevo”.

Sources: Jornada, Milenio, Vanguardia, Lopez Doriga, Periodico Nuevo León Times, MX Politico, Frontera Al Rojo Vivo, ABC Noticias Article 1, Article 2, Article 3, Dominion Medios 

 

Further Reading: 

Raw Videos From Recent Ambush in Los Aldamas, Nuevo León, Circulate on Social Media

CDG vs CDN Battle Leaves At Least 4 Dead in General Bravo, Nuevo León

CDN vs CDG: Six Scorched Monstruos, Two Killed In Dr Coss, Nuevo León