On 1 July 2010, members of two rival cartels clashed near the village of

Sáric Sáric ( O'odham: Ṣaʼalk ''mountain pass'') is a small town in Sáric Municipality, located in the extreme north of the Mexican state of Sonora. In 2010, it had a population of 892. History The town was founded in 1690 by Jesuit missionary E ...

, in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

's northwestern state of

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

, approximately 12 miles southeast of the little-used port of entry in

Sasabe, Arizona Sasabe () is a small Unincorporated area, hamlet in the Altar Valley of southern Pima County, Arizona, Pima County, Arizona, United States, immediately north of the international border with Mexico. It hosts a minor Mexico–United States border ...

. Local news media and officials in the Mexican government reported that the violence was the result of an ambush, organized by a group aligned with the Beltrán-Leyva Cartel to stop a convoy of over 50 vehicles of the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel (, , after the native Sinaloa region), also known as the ''CDS'', the ''Guzmán-Loera Organization'', the ''Federation'', the ''Sinaloa Cartel'', or the Pacific Cartel, is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized cri ...

from entering Saric. The Beltrán-Leyva group took up positions on a hill along the road outside of Saric, and as the convoy approached, laid down a devastating barrage of fire into the convoy below. Shortly after the fighting ended, Mexican police and military arrived to find the bodies of 21 dead and several bullet-strewn vehicles, mostly SUVs. Nine men were taken into police custody, six of whom received wounds in the shootout.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saric shootout, 2010 Battles of the Mexican drug war Sinaloa Cartel Beltrán-Leyva Cartel 2010 in Mexico Conflicts in 2010 Organized crime conflicts in Mexico July 2010 in Mexico Shootouts

See also

References