10 killed in Nogales, Son., shootout, police chase

by Fernanda Echavarri on Oct 24, 2008, under Local, Nation/World, Special

8 others injured – including 3 police officers

A Sonora state police officer stands guard in Nogales on Tuesday. The city and state have an increased police presence in the city’s tourist areas because of rising violence.

Gunfire and a high-speed chase through the streets of Nogales killed 10 criminal cartel suspects and injured eight people – three of them police officers – Thursday, Mexican police said.

Sonora police officers stopped a sport utility vehicle for inspection about three miles south of the international border just after 6 a.m., said José Larrinaga, a high-ranking state justice official.

When officers approached the SUV passengers – believed to be sicarios (members of drug cartels and organized crime in Mexico) – another vehicle pulled up from which shots were fired at the officers on Tecnológico Avenue and Colosio Boulevard, Larrinaga said.

Police returned fire, killing one and wounding another, he said.

Both vehicles fled the scene, leading a high-speed chase down two main Nogales boulevards.

Police in pursuit shot flat the SUV’s tires, and the vehicle crashed into a detention center wall on Colosio, killing four men and severely injuring two, Larrinaga said. One of the two hurt in the crash died later in the hospital.

The chase of the second vehicle entered Las Bellotas neighborhood just east of Colosio, where state police fatally shot three sicario suspects and wounded another, who later died at the hospital.

The shootings and chases left 10 suspects dead, one severely injured and another in critical condition.

During the shooting, three officers sustained minor injuries.

Three civilians were hit by debris, but their injuries were minor.

A couple of blocks away from the last encounter, officers found a pickup truck filled with rifles and bulletproof vests. Two grenades were discovered inside a nearby car, Larrinaga said, adding all the weapons found were connected to the people involved in the shooting.

Police have not identified the suspects or their roles in organized crime.

State police are working with local police and the Mexican army in the investigation.

Violence in Nogales

Nogales Violence

An increase in patrols by city, state and federal police in Nogales due to the rise in violence among rival drug cartels in Noglaes.

Producer: FRANCISCO MEDINA

Slide 1 of 16 [Next | Previous].
A State Police officer holds on to his AR-15 sub-machine gun in Nogales as he keeps his eye on traffic while posted along Calle Obregon in Nogales due to the rise in violence among rival drug cartels in Nogales.
Source: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson Citizen

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