Details on the shootout at Rio Bravo

Strategy Page:

The kind of terror we associate with Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia can show up a lot closer to home. Take, for example, the recent "Tamaulipas Drug War" just south of the U.S. border in Mexico. In an era of "small war," what amounts to a major battle took place on January 7th, in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Mexican Federal Police personnel spotted a van carrying three men, who were openly carrying automatic weapons. When the police attempted to stop the van, the men opened fire, abandoned their vehicle, and fled into a nearby house, which was apparently the headquarters of a drug gang. Heavy fire was soon coming from the building, which like most Mexican houses was of cement-cinder block-rebar construction, and thus essentially a bunker. The police called for reinforcements. As scores of Federal Police and some troops responded, the action grew into a major fire fight. The fight lasted a little over a half hour, as the security forces quickly gained the upper hand, helped by RPGs and, reportedly, machine gun fire, provided by the troops.

When the fighting ended, ten police officers and soldiers had been wounded, but three of the drug gang were dead and ten more, some of them wounded, were in custody. A considerable arsenal was confiscated, including 7 automatic weapons, 16 "sniper rifles," a dozen automatic pistols, and a grenade launcher, plus grenades and ammunition, as well as flack jackets and some radios. Much of the equipment appeared to have come from the U.S.

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Given that it began when armed men were seen driving through the streets, and that it occurred in close proximity to what appears to have been a major drug operations center, it's possible that incident may have been a deliberate effort by "El Lazco" to provoke a shootout with the Federal Police, in an attempt to intimidate them, as he done with many of the local police forces in the area. Even this is not the case, the likelihood is that there will be more such battles, as the current Mexican government seems to be serious about dealing with the drug cartels

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If the druggies intentionally provoked this fire fight it was a mistake. This is a real win for the federalis. What the insurgents need to take away from this battle is that Mexican authorities finally have enough fire power in the area to deal with them. the post goes on to point out Mexico's failure to enforce its own border when it comes to importing weapons.