NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AP) — Gunfire and burning vehicles in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo led U.S. officials to briefly close a border crossing at Laredo, Texas Monday.
The gunfire erupted late Sunday after the arrest of a leader of one faction of the Northeast Cartel, the successor group to the old Zetas Cartel, Mexico’s most bloodthirsty gang.
Suspected cartel members then opened fire and hijacked and burned vehicles, apparently in retaliation for the arrest.
U.S Customs and Border Protection said that southbound traffic into Nuevo Laredo at Juarez-Lincoln and Gateway to the Americas Bridges was suspended, but re-opened early Monday morning.
The arrested suspected was not identified by his full name, in keeping with Mexican law.
The Mexican army said he was the leader of cartel gunmen known as “The Troops of Hell.” They are an extremely violent and heavily-armed gang of hitmen.
The suspect’s nickname — “The Egg”— corresponds to Juan Gerardo Treviño, a nephew of imprisoned Zetas cartel leader Miguel Angel Treviño.
The suspect was reportedly detained with two illegal guns, and faces charges of extortion, homicide, terrorism, and is wanted for extradition on U.S. charges of conspiracy to traffic drugs and launder money.
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