Border city wracked by violence between gangsters, soldiers

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico —

Gangsters unleashed mayhem in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, blocking major avenues, burning vehicles and engaging soldiers in shootouts that left one suspected gunman dead.

The Tamaulipas state security agency known as the Coordinating Group for the Construction of Peace in Tamaulipas said armed men carjacked civilians and seized large trucks late Friday and used them to blockade main streets, including some leading to international border bridges. Operations at crossings were not affected.

At least three vehicles were torched while others were upended or simply abandoned, and charred cars remained on the streets Saturday.

The U.S. Consulate in Nuevo Laredo issued a security alert overnight warning its personnel to shelter in place because of the “multiple gunfights and blockades throughout the city.”

On Saturday afternoon it published another alert saying its workers were “subject to restrictions on their movements and an evening curfew until further notice.”

Alberto Rodríguez Juárez of the Coordinating Group said the shootouts were from a confrontation with troops in which the suspected gunman was killed. Authorities seized an SUV and five firearms, including a .50-caliber rifle.

One of the gunbattles occurred in a neighborhood near a Walmart, and videos that circulated on social media showed panicked people seeking shelter inside the store as shots rang out.

Friday’s violence came on the heels of other violence in previous days after federal and state police moved 75 inmates from a Nuevo Laredo prison. In a series of shootings, six gunmen and a soldier died, and some police officers were wounded.

Nuevo Laredo is territory of the Northeast cartel, a splinter of the once-dominant Zetas gang.

It’s also one of two cities in Tamaulipas where the United States has been returning thousands of asylum-seekers to wait while their cases slog through U.S. courts.

The decision to expand the program to Tamaulipas alarmed observers given the lawlessness and cartel dominance in the state.