A Texas border area sheriff issued an alert via social media warning residents to not cross into the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo following several hours of shootouts between cartel gunmen and police.

On Wednesday evening, Webb County Sheriff Martin Cuellar took to Facebook to warn residents about crossing into Nuevo Laredo due to information about ongoing gun battles. Cuellar’s post notes there were reports of “heavy-caliber” machine guns in use and numerous carjackings.

Information provided to Breitbart Texas by Tamaulipas authorities revealed that Nuevo Laredo saw a series of clashes between state police and members of the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas in recent days. Earlier this week, state police officers managed to kill three gunmen in an operation targeting key cartel leaders.

On Wednesday afternoon, CDN gunmen torched a local business and carried out a series of attacks against state police around popular shopping centers in Nuevo Laredo. The shootouts forced several patrons to lock themselves inside various stores.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.