Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas and Coahuila 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 Reynosa’s “A.C. Del Angel.”

REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — The residents of this border city had a rude awakening as cartel gunmen and authorities clashed in a fierce gun battles for more than three hours that left at least 10 dead. Rumors among residents point to the capture of a commander within the Gulf Cartel.

The violence began shortly after 5:17 a.m. when Mexican marines clashed with gunmen near the intersection of Hidalgo and Praxedis Balboa boulevards starting a gun battle that went on for more than three hours. The marines called on their counterparts from a task-force called BOM in Spanish (Mixed Operations Command).

The gun battle turned into a series of chases as convoys of gunmen rushed to distract Mexican authorities who were heading to the scene of the gun battle to aid their comrades.

Breitbart Texas has been able to confirm that 10 individuals were killed during the fighting, it remains unclear how many were cartel members, if any were innocent bystanders or if any military personnel were among the casualties.

The additional cashes took place along in the southern, eastern and western parts of the city where the gunmen also began to hijack passenger vehicles, park them across a main street and set them on fire as a blockade. The gunmen also set stacks of tires on fire to serve as blockades as to diminish the visibility of snipers riding on helicopters.

Workers in manufacturing plants reported that they were placed on lockdown and kept inside while the violence raged on in their city. One shootout even took place outside of the headquarters of Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR).

The shootout comes just days after Mexico’s National Security Commissioner visited this city as well as McAllen, Texas, where he claimed that security conditions in the country were improving and crime statistics kept showing a decrease in violence.