US-Mexico Border Drug Gun Battle: 13 Killed In Shootout Between Marines and Civilians In Northern Mexico

Thirteen people were killed in Matamoros a northern Mexico border town when shootouts between the Mexican marines and civilians broke out on Sunday. There were three shootouts on Sunday which resulted in the deaths of 13 people. The incidents occurred in Matamoros a town that is used as a smuggling point between Mexican and U.S drug cartels. One of the shootouts on Sunday took place between Mexican marines and armed civilians. The civilians were traveling in a number of vehicles, four civilians in the vehicles were killed. The marines confiscated three automatic weapons, and ammunition.

Another four armed civilians travelling in a vehicle down Matamoros Street were killed in a separate confrontation with the Marines. Four more men and one woman were shot and killed in an apparent civilian on civilian attack. According to the BBC local media covering the shootings said that the arms and ammunition found belonged to local drug gangs. The Zetas and Gulf Cartel have spent years fighting and spilling blood over the coveted smuggling area in Matamoros. The territory lies just across the border from Brownsville, Texas.

The 13 killed on Sunday have not been identified. Officials will not say whether or not they belonged to either of the two rival gangs. In July and August of this year Mexican authorities captured the heads of both rival gangs. Miguel Angel Trevino Morales was the leader of the Zetas, and Mario Ramirez Trevino was the boss of the Gulf Cartel. Mexican police and its government have been worried the violence in the gang ravaged country would escalate when the two leaders were taken into custody.

Since 2006 over 77,000 people have been killed as a result of drug violence. Former Mexican president Felipe Calderon ordered a crackdown on the drug gangs in 2006. This order had the opposite effect with gangs looking to establish their dominance and authority by increasing the violence in the regions they operated.

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