Gunfire crackled across the Rio Grande Valley last week in a border drama that left five drug cartel members killed by Mexican authorities...
Gunfire crackled across the Rio Grande Valley last week in a border drama that left five drug cartel members killed by Mexican authorities.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted a video from the Texas Department of Public Safety that was taken from a helicopter patrolling the nation’s southern border.
“NEW: Video from @TxDPS shows a suspected cartel gunman aiming an AK-47 at their helicopter from MX as it was patrolling in Starr County, TX in the RGV on Wednesday,” Melugin said. “This is the same area where the cartel has shot at Border Patrol from across the river in recent months.”
Although the video did not capture shots being fired, the evasive action taken by the pilot shows the danger the helicopter and its passengers faced.
Then came part two.
“After this incident, @TxDPS tells me they contacted the MX government, and the video shows the MX military responding,” Melugin said in a follow-up tweet. “They approached a suspected cartel compound in the area, a gunfight ensued, 5 suspected cartel killed, 4 arrested, several rifles & red car recovered.”
As noted by Fox News, gunmen in Mexico have fired at Americans in January and February.
In August, a Border Patrol agent driving on the American side of the border near El Paso, Texas, was targeted from across the border, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Despite having about 20 shots fired at him from roughly 150 yards away, the agent was not hurt, officials said.
The Mexican region of Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, has seen unrest since the recent arrest of alleged drug gang leader Juan Gerardo Treviño, known as “El Huevo,” according to CBS News.
As a result, the State Department authorized the departure of some families and personnel from the U.S. consulate in Nuevo Laredo.
The order to leave followed shots being fired at the U.S. consulate building in Nuevo Laredo on Sunday night.
“As of March 15, the Department of State is not able to offer routine consular services from the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo,” the State Department said in its announcement. “U.S. citizens wishing to depart Nuevo Laredo should monitor local news and announcements and only do so when considered safe during daylight hours.”
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