Videos: Hitmen Battle Against Army in Caborca, Sonora, Leaving Two Dead

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat 

Army soldiers were filmed shielding an uninvolved civilian during a standoff at a safehouse, with armed hitmen barricaded inside a residence, shooting from concealed positions. More videos show the intensity of the siege of the building that eventually led to the death of two and the arrest of one.

The Situation 

On August 29, 2022, a number of gunshots were heard coming from a house on 2nd Street in the Santa Cecilia neighborhood, located in the northern part of the town of Caborca, Sonora. A resident of the area called the emergency phone line and reported the gunfire to authorities, who dispatched a group of Army (SEDENA) soldiers to check on the residence in question. 

When the soldiers arrived outside, a number of cartel hitmen opened fire on them from concealed positions within the house - evidently a safehouse they had been hiding out in. The soldiers took cover, returned fire and requested help on radio. Army and National Guard soldiers, as well as police officers were sent to provide support and help breach the residence.

A perimeter was set up around the house and cordoned off from the public. Civilians inside the perimeter were escorted out of the area, all while personnel organized how to best breach the residence.

The Videos 

                  

The following videos occurred during this time period, after the initial exchanges of gunfire and perimeter established, while civilians were still being escorted out and before the residence had been breached.

Video Source: Caborca Informa

The video contains no graphic content. 

The gunshots start at about 1:20 in the video if you prefer to skip to that part.

The footage shown below comes from a local reporter, named Alex from Caborca Informa, who was livestreaming from a location about one or two blocks away from the safehouse.  The reporter is standing near a soldier who is guarding the perimeter, standing in the bed of a military pickup. He films some law enforcement and military group movements as they approach the safehouse.

The safehouse appears to be calm and all is quiet but then, gunfire suddenly breaks out, causing the reporter to back away from the street, as the bursts of fire continue. A state police vehicle arrives with reinforcements, the shots continue and the clip ends.

Video Source: Mr_Civico

The second video is very similar, with a different reporter filming nearby when the gunfire breaks out. Soldiers tell him to get out of the area, so the reporter gets in his vehicle and drives away. 

Video Source: Mr_Civico

The video contains no graphic content.

Video Source: AhoraMás

A higher quality, but less complete version of same video

In the third video, someone inside a vehicle yells and beeps at an approaching vehicle as a way of telling it to stop before entering the area of the shootout. Meanwhile he films four soldiers positioned on the corner of a Bachoco, a grocery store, which is near the shots. 

The soldiers coax an uninvolved civilian, who is holding his arms raised in surrender, to move away from the shooting but he appears to to freeze and says something once he reaches them, all while still standing on the sidewalk. The soldiers finally manage to convince him to round the corner, out of any potential lines of fire and he gets on the ground behind them.

After 30 minutes of intermittent gunfire from both sides, a group of 30 soldiers breached the safehouse and allegedly found two dead men, presumed hitmen, who had been killed in the various exchanges of fire and one injured but alive hitman, who was detained and taken for medical care. 

One soldier was shot during the incident and he was rushed to receive medical care as well.  Four firearms were seized from the home, three long-barrel and one short barrel.

The Context 

So, articles covering this incident aren’t naming which cartel group was involved but who is it likely to be based on what we know about the area? 

Caborca municipality was considered to be the domain of Rafael Caro Quintero’s eponymous Caborca Cartel so if the hitmen were working under a major cartel group, then they are the most likely candidate. 

The Caborca Cartel has subgroups in the region like La Plaza and Los Olivas, as well as a key alliance with El Mayo lieutenant El Gigio, from Nogales.

Following Rafael Caro Quintero’s highly publicized arrest on July 15, 2022, questions began to arise about whether a strong Caborca Cartel lieutenant would emerge to take over leadership and be able to guide the group through the upheaval, or if Caro’s arrest would lead to a fracturing of the group and a diminishment of their influence in the region. 

It should be remembered that DEA agents who spoke to Proceso about Caro’s arrest said that a number of cartel members “from the Golden Triangle region” who were providing Caro protection had eventually been bought off. In exchange for bribe money, they had “lowered his protection” before authorities moved in for the arrest. 

Caro was found to have been hiding out in San Simón, which is located in the municipality of Choix, Sinaloa. Choix municipality is considered to be territory where two different groups are present: Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos and the BLO-associated Guasave Cartel, which has leadership figures like Fausto Isidro Meza Flores, alias “Chapo Isidro”, and Adelmo Núñez Molina, alias “Lemo Nuñez”.

What's even more intriguing is that, as covered in this previous story by Ivan, a set of dismembered human remains were left at three different locations in Caborca municipality the day after this shootout. These remains were accompanied by a narco message, which was allegedly signed by Rodrigo Páez Quintero, alias “El R”, and Lemo Nuñez.

El R was described in 2020 as the day-to-day leader of the Caborca Cartel. He comes from both the Paez and Quintero crime families from the region. He is the nephew of both Miguel and Rafael Caro Quintero.

Some sources, such as Riodoce, alleged that in December 2020, Rafael Caro Quintero made various trips to create peace between El R and Los Salazar’s leader José Crispín Salazar Zamorano. Regardless of the validity of these reports, the violence between the two groups did not cease.

Video Sources: Caborca Informa, Mr_Civico, Mr_Civico, AhoraMás

Sources: SDP Noticias, ADN40, Plano Informativo, La Silla Rota, La Voz de Michoacán