RIO BRAVO, Tamaulipas — Mexican authorities killed two cartel gunmen guarding a shipment of stolen fuel near this border city.

The shootout took place over the weekend near La Soledad community in Rio Bravo. Security personnel with Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex and military forces were patrolling dirt roads near pipelines at the time. Authorities spotted a truck carrying two large plastic containers filled with stolen fuel. When security moved to intervene, a second truck with two gunmen pulled up–firing at the troops.

The men in the truck carrying the stolen containers stopped and ran into the brush while the gunmen clashed with the military. Authorities killed the attackers and seized the vehicles. Security patrols on dirt roads recently increased near Rio Bravo following an escalation of fuel theft.

Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that in recent weeks, security forces seized more than 10 vehicles and 10,000 liters of stolen fuel.

Cartels often branch into fuel theft and human smuggling to diversify their sources of income.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.