McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Gunfire and blockades Wednesday again terrorized the northern Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, but was not a threat to the border Texas city of Laredo, the city’s fire chief told Border Report.
“I saw the situational report come in that there was some gunfire occurring in Nuevo Laredo and I don’t have any details but it’s happening on the other side of the river so it’s not impacting our community,” Laredo Fire Chief Steve Landin said in a video conference call on Wednesday afternoon.
Rapid gunfire can be heard in video shot on the streets of Nuevo Laredo, just across from Laredo, and there are reports of blockades. A high-level community leader in Laredo said the situation is “very dangerous” and “complicated” and is a combination of drug cartels fighting and protests by farmers and ranchers.
The private Facebook group Nuevo Laredo Alert Roja issued an urgent warning on Wednesday morning giving locations of several blockades, including one near a national highway and neighborhood subdivision in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas. The post states there were shootings and detonations of explosives and to use precaution in the area.
This is the second time in three months that this city in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas has come under rapid gunfire. On Jan. 2, the Webb County Sheriff’s Department issued an urgent warning after overnight gunfire was so rampant that it could be heard clearly from the backyards of residents in the U.S. side, where many took cover in their basements.
During a Wednesday morning public health emergency conference call — which is held daily with Laredo city officials to discuss the COVID-19 situation — the gunfire situation dominated the conversation, Border Report was told.
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