Gunmen Attack Mexican Police Officers in Coahuila
Gunmen linked to the Los Zetas cartel del Noreste injured two Mexican police officers in a coordinated ambush. This incident marks the third assault of its kind since Thursday, as law enforcement and military forces strive to thwart CDN Los Zetas from executing operations in Coahuila state. The CDN-Los Zetas is recognized as one of six Mexican cartels classified as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. government.
The attack transpired early Saturday morning, around 4:30 a.m., near Hidalgo in Coahuila state. This region lies adjacent to the border with Tamaulipas, both of which are Mexican states just south of Texas. According to police reports in Coahuila, two officers were patrolling a rural road when they noticed a white pickup truck that matched the description of a vehicle used in a previous attack on Mexican soldiers earlier in the week.
Attempting to intercept the vehicle, the officers found themselves in a difficult spot as the suspects suddenly sped away. Visibility was poor due to dust, which caused the officers to temporarily lose sight of the gunmen. In that confusion, the attackers stopped and set up an ambush, catching the police off guard and opening fire simultaneously.
Both officers sustained multiple injuries, including one who was shot in the face. After the assailants fled the scene, responding officers rushed the injured officers to a nearby hospital, where one required specialized care and had to be moved to the state capital for treatment.
This ambush followed a similar incident on Thursday, where gunmen shot two Mexican soldiers and attempted another ambush, resulting in the death of one attacker and injuries to two others, along with the arrest of two female gunmen.
The assault is thought to have been executed by the Los Zetas Cartel del Noreste faction, which operates primarily in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. This group has been responsible for numerous recent attacks on law enforcement in Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and to a lesser extent, Tamaulipas, where state authorities have allegedly offered them shelter. The CDN-Los Zetas has been implicated in the kidnappings and murders of countless innocent individuals and carries out extensive extortion operations, often with the complicity of local officials, pressuring small and medium-sized businesses to pay protection fees.
