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| Under control? |
When authorities in Mazatlan, Mexico, heard last Saturday
that armed men were holed up in an upscale house only a few meters off of Avenida
Camarón Sábalo, near the Pacific resort town’s tourist zone, they sprang into
action, with the city’s municipal cops attending the scene.
(For more recent news see Mazatlan's carnival marred by shooting in Plazuela Machado).
(For more recent news see Mazatlan's carnival marred by shooting in Plazuela Machado).
However, the occupants, who allegedly formed part of a car
theft ring, weren’t about to leave peacefully. They opened fire on the local
officers – it was about 2:30 in the afternoon – resulting in a brief gunfight.
After securing the area the state police set up loudspeakers to
try and coax the occupants out of the building. When that failed, the police threw in
tear gas canisters.
About this time the commander of the state police, Jesus
Antonio Aguilar Iniguez, showed up accompanied by his deputy, Jesús Antonio
Sánchez Solís. Shortly after this Pablo Andrés Hernández Lizárraga, the secretary
of public security for Mazatlan, also arrived, with a helicopter now hovering
overhead.
Finally accepting that the jig was up, at 4 pm the suspects
surrendered. Four men aged 19, 22, 23, and 25 were arrested. The police seized
three 9 millimeter handguns (one with a silencer), an AK-47 assault rifle
(other reports claim two AK-47s), a stolen Tiida automobile, as well as some marijuana
and crystal meth.
The events caused a fair share of anxiety among locals and
tourists alike, with the route from the Golden Zone to the Marina closed off,
and traffic from Cerritos diverted to Paseo del Atlántico and Avenida La Marina.
The local paper El Debate shot and posted a brief video of
the scene outside the cordoned off area, which can be seen here.
(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)
(TE Wilson is the author of Mezcalero, a Detective Sánchez novel.)
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