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Drug Cartel Violence Erupts Again in Mexican State


Tamaulipas, Mexico
Tamaulipas, Mexico

Drug cartel violence in Mexico's Tamaulipas state flared up for the second time in a week Wednesday, with gunbattles and arson attacks erupting in the street after police captured four alleged drug gang members. Two people were killed.

The detainees, whose identity is still unknown, are from the Gulf Cartel, one of Mexico's oldest drug-trafficking groups, also known for kidnappings and immigrant trafficking.

"We had blockades in the town of Altamira. They [organized crime groups] are trying to intimidate the government,'' a state government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The official said it was not yet clear whether the two people killed were trying to rescue the detainees or were just caught in the crossfire.

Earlier in April, parts of Reynosa, a city across the Rio Grande from McAllen, Texas, ground to a halt after gunfights broke out and vehicles were set ablaze the same day authorities caught Gulf Cartel leader known as "El Gafe'' there.

More than 100,000 people have died in gang-related violence in Mexico over the past eight years. President Enrique Pena Nieto pledged to restore order when he took office in 2012, but although the homicide count has fallen, parts of the country remain mired in violence.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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