At least 28 killed in highway shootout between Mexican drug gangs

[News_Editor]

At least 28 killed in highway shootout between Mexican drug gangs

2011-05-26 20:01:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEPIC, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- At least 28 people were killed during a gun battle between rival drug cartels on a highway in the western region of Mexico, officials said Thursday.

Police forces believe the Pacific and Los Zetas drug cartels, which have been constantly clashing in the past months, were involved in the violent gun battle carried out on Wednesday at around 4 p.m. local time on the Tepic-Mazatlan highway in Mexico's state of Nayarit and near the municipality of Ruiz. Authorities did not rule out the participation of the Beltran-Leyva cartel.

Nayarit's Public Security Department said that in a one-kilometer (less than a mile) stretch of the highway, 11 bodies were scattered around some ten gunned down vehicles. At one end of the stretch, a pickup truck was found with 17 bodies wearing military-style clothing. Four wounded people, several rifles, and unexploded grenades were also found.

Military, as well as federal, state, and municipal police forces arrived at the scene after a local citizen issued a complaint regarding the kidnapping of a man by a group of gunmen riding in three separate vehicles in Peñas, Nayarit. The perpetrators reportedly fled toward Ruiz, where the shootout was carried out.

The town was later secured by military personnel as several of the involved are believed to have fled and hid in Ruiz. Shops and local businesses shut down in what seems like a ghost town as local residents remain fearful of leaving their homes.

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