This is a video of shootout that happened a few days ago (the same day the international bridge into America was blocked in Reynosa), that Yasha Levine sent along, asking me to decipher what the hell is going on. Well, let me tell you that this is some great stuff. I hadn’t seen this particular video myself until he sent it along, but I definitely did hear about the gun battle it captured so beautifully. How could I not? Up to 10 people were killed in shootout that lasted something like three hours.

In the video, it’s funny how the news correspondent says that this is an armed battle between federal forces and, hesitating for a second, he goes on to say “organized crime.” Ha ha! Come on! Everybody knew the cops were battling it out with the zetas as soon as they heard about the shootout, even before we found out it took place in Reynosa. No one will dare talk shit about the zetas. That’s how shit scared the media is in Tamaulipas.

This particular fight was the result of a mixed operation by the Army and Federales against a cell of zetas that was intercepted along with its leader. The whole thing quickly turned into a running gun fight like you see in crappy Hollywood action movies. Zetas grunts stole cars at gun point from civilians and then used them as roadblocks all over the city to cover the escape of their boss.

This isn’t heroics. This is a common tactic. Arturo Beltran, a lieutenant of the Sinaloa cartel, escaped the same way on the highway between Acapulco and Cuernavaca. The zetas are freaking badass. Even other cartels call them the “Los Locos.” None of that holding your gun sideways bullshit gangster moves, these guys are trained professionals. I bet they’d hold their own with the Chechens, maybe even kick their asses. See, unlike those Chechens, they never stopped fighting, never stopped honing their skills.

Anyway, I think this time the government was going after El Caris, a zeta lieutenant working the border of Texas/Tamaulipas. He had taken control of the plaza when El Hummer was captured. Now, there’s no official confirmation of this, but there are rumors that he was possibly killed during the fight.

In the video, a reporter talks about the superior firepower of the armed forces, but a month ago the news were saying that the narcos were better armed. Fact is, the narcos have shiny new weapons from Arizona, while the army has their home-produced very-potent G3 variant (the G3A4 or K, I think, if your a gun nut) and the police…Well, who cares about the police, right? Fuck ’em. As for the armed forces, superior firepower or not, they’ll still get their amateur asses kicked by the zetas. This is guerrilla warfare to the max and if the world’s learned one thing from Iraq is that weapons don’t mean shit.

I hope you enjoyed the video. If you close your eyes, you can almost hear Baghdad. Haha!

And remember to stay tuned for more gory news like this because it’s gonna get pretty more badass from here on. 2009 is local elections year and the Goverment is shit scared about the infiltration of narcomoney into the campaigns to finance their own men, which wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.

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Pancho Montana is an eXiled Special Mexican War on Drugs Correspondent.

As a native of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, located in northern Mexico, Mr. Montana lives in Gulf Cartel territory. That means the streets belong to the Zetas, a paramilitary organization trained by the Yankees and hired by the Gulf Cartel to keep things civilized and business booming. Read his last dispatch: Pro-drug Demonstrators Riot Against the Anti-drug Surge.