Tagged: Mazatlán

19 cartel gunmen killed in firefight near Mexican beach resort town

(BREITBART) — Nineteen cartel gunmen and two others died in a series of fierce firefights near the Mexican beach resort town of Mazatlan, Sinaloa.

The violence began on Friday night in the village of Villa Union located near the famed resort town of Mazatlan, information provided to Breitbart Texas by Mexican Military officials revealed. In that village, a team of gunmen executed two men outside of a house along a road that leads to the nearby town of Mapa.

Local police officers responding to the shooting chased the gunmen setting off a rolling gun battle as authorities and gunmen exchanged gunfire. During that clash, four police officers sustained gunshot injuries and were rushed to emergency rooms in Mazatlan. Officials did not disclose the condition of the officers.

Shortly after the initial execution and the first firefight, a convoy of military vehicles clashed with a team of approximately 19 gunmen riding in 4 SUV’s. The gunmen wore body armor. They also carried machine guns and other military style weapons.

The fierce gun battle went on for several minutes until the military forces were able to kill 19 of the gunmen in the convoy. The bodies of the cartel sicarios were left behind for Sinaloa State authorities to document and investigate.

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Juárez among most dangerous cities in the world

(CURRENT-ARGUS) — Juárez is once again one of the most dangerous cities in the world, according to a group that releases annual rankings.

The Citizens Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, a Mexican think tank, has ranked Juárez 37th out of the 50 most violent cities worldwide with a population of more than 300,000. The ranking comes after Juárez had fallen off the list last year.

Juárez was among eight Mexican cities on the list, which included Acapulco in the No. 2 spot. The most violent city in the world was Caracas, Venezuela. Four U.S. cities also made the list, including St. Louis, Mo., Baltimore, Md., New Orleans, La., and Detroit, Mich. They ranked 14, 26, 34 and 36, respectively.

Juárez’s return to the undesirable list — as well as that of Chihuahua City and Mazatlán, which fell off the list in 2015 and 2012, respectively — is evidence on how violence has picked up in Mexico and attempts to contain it have utterly failed, said José Antonio Ortega Sánchez, president of the Citizens Council for Public Safety and Criminal Justice.

The rankings are based on homicides for 2016 and don’t include deaths in combat zones or cities with unavailable data.

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