Juárez police, gunmen clash in shootings as drug violence rages in Mexico border city

Daniel Borunda | El Paso Times

Show Caption Hide Caption Drug cartels in El Paso-Juarez region Three Mexican drug cartels operated in the El Paso-Juarez region

There have been more than 110 homicides this month in Juárez, Mexico.

Gunmen with La Linea crime organization were arrested after shootouts with Juárez police.

Juárez police killed a suspected hit man and arrested four others in a pair of gunfights with alleged La Linea crime organization gunmen this week.

The shootouts erupted as police responded to attacks by La Linea in the drug cartel's ongoing war with rival drug traffickers and the Barrio Azteca gang, authorities said Wednesday.

The head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in El Paso has said that La Linea and Barrio Azteca are battling for control of the remnants of the Juárez drug cartel.

There have been 110 homicides in Juárez this month and more than 650 this year, according to tally by Channel 44-XHIJ. There were about 770 killings in all of last year.

More: US government issues security alert for downtown Juárez, Mexico, due to violence

Rivals' home attacked by gunmen

One confrontation occurred after gunmen with assault rifles fired 31 shots at home in southeast Juárez, a police news release stated.

While being pursued by police responding to 911 calls about the shooting, the gunmen, who were riding in a black Dodge Nitro, allegedly fired at officers, who returned fire and were able to arrest them.

The arrested men were only identified as Juan Daniel B.G., 30, and 18-year-old Leonel Eduardo J.A.

Full names were not released by Juárez police per rules regarding the naming of crime suspects.

The men allegedly told police that they were searching for three members of a rival group, but since they weren't home, they decided to shoot-up their house.

A pair of puppies were killed in the shooting, police added.

The men were in a Dodge Nitro that belonged to homicide victim Jaime Ivan Delgado, whom they allegedly confessed to killing before dumping his dismembered body Monday in the same neighborhood, police said.

More: Murders increase 16% in Mexico in first half of 2018, sets new record violence

5,000 pesos to kill

On Tuesday night, police got into a shootout with another suspected team of La Linea gunmen.

The suspects were confronted by police when a hit squad attempted to kill a Barrio Azteca gang member in the Felipes Angeles neighborhood in west Juárez, officials said.

One of the alleged sicarios was killed in a shootout with police and two were arrested after a car chase.

Police said that the men said that they had a direct order to kill an Azteca gang member after killing the man's brother a day earlier outside a convenience store.

The alleged shooters claimed they were paid 5,000 pesos, which equals about $270, a week to kill rivals, a police news release stated.

The men arrested were identified as Saul A.G. and Sergio C.A., both 24 years old. The man killed by police has not been identified.

More: Juárez police arrest alleged gang leader accused of double-cross fueling Mexico violence

Suspects in 6 deaths

Police said that the men are suspected in six homicides in the past four weeks. The killings that the men are suspected in were:

Monday: A man was killed and two females wounded in a street shooting in colonia Granjas del Rio.

July 17: Four members of a family were attacked in a street shooting that killed a 5-year-old girl and wounded two other females in the Felipes Angeles neighborhood.

More: Juarez, Chihuahua City among the 50 most dangerous cities in the world

July 9: A man was killed in front of the state government offices on Avenida Lincoln near the international Bridge of the Americas.

July 2: A man killed at an intersection in the Altavista area west of downtown Juárez.

June 29: Two men were killed on Avenida Lincoln in the ProNaF district near the Bridge of the Americas.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at 546-6102; dborunda@elpasotimes.com; @BorundaDaniel on Twitter.