Gang members killed in shootout near Mexico's northern border

227
1
Gang members killed in shootout near Mexico's northern border

A car chase and shootout between gang members and law enforcement near Mexico's northern border left three members of the powerful Gulf Cartel dead along with one bystander, officials said on Saturday.

The incident began on Friday evening in the border city of Tamaulipas, when military and police officers attempted to stop several suspicious vehicles, officials from the northern state of Matamoros said in a statement.

Gang members fired on the security forces, set up 15 blockades across the city and set fire to several cars. Some also took off on foot into downtown Matamoros.

Videos on social media showed a line of cars speeding through the city accompanied by the rapid gunfire and flying bullets.

From 2019 until March of this year, Matamoros had been home to a sprawling camp of migrants who were ordered to stay in Mexico while waiting for asylum claims to be processed in the United States under a Trump-era policy called the Migrant Protection Protocols MPP The program has been heavily criticized by migrant advocates for sending asylum seekers to crime-ridden border cities, such as Matamoros, for lengthy waits.

Joe Biden has attempted to end the policy, but his administration for now is taking steps to comply with a court ruling to keep the policy in placeas of mid-November.