Shots fired at U.S. consulate in Mexico after gang boss arrest
March 14, 2022
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) -Gunfire hit a U.S. consulate and Mexican military installations in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo overnight, and trailers were set ablaze on roads downtown after a gang leader’s arrest, authorities said on Monday.
Shots against the consulate and military premises were reported amid gunfighting and pursuits in parts of the city that lies opposite Laredo, Texas, the ministry of public security in the state of Tamaulipas said in a statement.
Suspected gang members paralyzed traffic in Nuevo Laredo early Monday by blocking roads with spike strips and setting fire to trailer trucks, the statement said.
The U.S. consulate advised its employees to stay indoors and urged U.S. citizens to do the same or avoid the area.
A senior Tamaulipas official told Reuters there was at least one “collateral” fatality due to the violence.
The gunfight followed the arrest of Juan Gerardo Trevino, or “El Huevo,” on Sunday, Mexico’s government said in a statement.
Trevino is facing a U.S. extradition order for drug trafficking and money laundering, as well as state-level charges for murder, terrorism, extortion and criminal association, it added.
He is also U.S. citizen, a Mexican government official told Reuters. Trevino is on a list of the U.S. Border Patrol’s most wanted criminals, according to media reports.
The Mexican statement named Trevino as the leader of the Cartel of the Northeast, a branch of the Zetas gang, as well as boss of hitman group “Tropas del Infierno” (Troops from Hell).
The arrest represents a “forceful blow” to the cartel’s power in the region, Mexico’s government said.
Nuevo Laredo Mayor Carmen Lilia Canturosas said early on Monday that some roads in the city were still impassable.
Monday appointments at the consulate and the visa processing center were also canceled, the U.S. consulate said.
(Reporting by Tomas Bravo and Lizbeth Diaz; Writing by Dave Graham and Kylie Madry; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Richard Chang)