Police in Chihuahua apprehended an alleged leader for “La Gente Nueva” Sunday, which operates as the armed wing of the Sinaloa Cartel.

The state attorney general’s office for Chihuahua announced the arrest in the city of Cuauhtémoc, located approximately 65 miles west of the state capital. According to the announcement, Francisco “U.B.,” aka “El 399” was arrested after citizens in a residential neighborhood reported an armed man in the area. When police arrived, they reportedly discovered El 399 in possession of an AR-15.

The region in and around Cuauhtémoc is highly disputed by warring factions between La Línea–Nuevo Cártel de Juárez and La Gente Nueva of the Sinaloa Cartel. In April, a reported 30 cartel gunmen from La Gente Nueva carried out a series of attacks in Anáhuac. The gunmen directed a barrage of gunfire at a police substation while trying to free a fellow operative and later lit the installation on fire.

#Anahuac #Chihuahua imágenes Gente armada rafaguea la comandancia. Se reportan dos personas sin vida y una tercera quién muere por intoxicación ya que fue incendiada por los agresores pic.twitter.com/fpaaJHrRw2 — m u e r t e (@_gloriousdead69) April 17, 2019

The cartel gunmen attacked a liquor store earlier that evening and opened fire on two municipal police officers who responded, killing one and wounding another, according to previously released local reports. Local media reported that the prisoner the cartel gunmen were attempting to free died from smoke inhalation. The attack on the police station was recorded by a smartphone camera.

#Anahuac #Chihuahua Vídeo Gente armada rafaguea la comandancia. Se reportan dos personas sin vida y una tercera quién muere por intoxicación ya que fue incendiada por los agresores pic.twitter.com/FiyS63XLAa — m u e r t e (@_gloriousdead69) April 17, 2019

The gunmen responsible for the attacks arrived in at least 10 trucks, according to Chihuahua Attorney General César Augusto Peniche.

Breitbart News reports extensively on the cartel violence in and near Cuauhtémoc. In early April, gunmen murdered the municipal police director and a bodyguard while they were driving in the state capital. In October 2018, a municipal police officer in Cuauhtémoc was kidnapped and appeared in an interrogation video. The officer was later found murdered and displayed signs of torture.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com