Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information from the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office regarding the number of victims.
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Rolling gun battles between members of organized criminal groups left six people dead and several vehicles shot-up just south of the Texas-Mexico border late Sunday and early Monday, Chihuahua state police said.
“We are reinforcing security to guarantee the safety of the people of Ojinaga, Coyame and Manuel Benavides,” said Luis Aguirre, chief of staff of the state police. “We have at least four people dead and another one injured by gunfire.”
The state police seized four abandoned vehicles including a Chevrolet Avalanche, a Ford F-150 pickup, a Jeep Rubicon and a Land Rover — the latter two with Texas license plates. They also found a burned up vehicle whose make is not immediately available. Two AK-47 rifles, two smoke grenades and assorted ammunition were also seized.
Ojinaga, the largest of the three communities, is across the border from Presidio, Texas, and about 200 miles southeast of Juarez, Mexico. That’s where police found four bodies on Monday. Later in the day, the Chihuahua Attorney General’s Office confirmed two additional bodies were found near Manuel Benavides, a Mexican town about 20 miles southwest of Terlingua, Texas.
State police officials say they are investigating numerous social media postings allegedly uploaded by members of the groups involved in the gunbattles but declined to comment on a motive.
Ojinaga and Coyame in the past few years have been the site of murders associated with a fight between two cartels – La Linea and Sinaloa – for control over migrant smuggling.
One such incident in late 2021 involved the disappearance of 13 Mexican migrants headed to the United States. Authorities found the bodies of 11 of the missing in a mass grave.
In May, five ride-share drivers went missing after dropping off migrants they had picked up in Chihuahua City at various locations in Ojinaga. Police found their half-naked bodies abandoned on the side of a highway near Chihuahua City a few days later. All had gunshot wounds.
Chihuahua state authorities said members of La Linea were suspects in the murders.
Aguirre said the state police has surged officers to the area and the Mexican army has sent soldiers there as well.
Separately, Aguirre said police continue investigating the murder of two minors and three young adults at a quinceañera party in Juarez on Saturday night.
“We have made significant progress in the investigation. We continue to take (witnesses’) testimony and (cellphone) videos and videos from surveillance cameras,” he said, declining to speculate on a possible motive.
The shooting took place in the San Felipe del Real neighborhood in west Juarez. It involved armed men arriving to a home on Calle Marcelo Caraveo and opening fire on nine teenagers and young adults outside a home where the party was taking place. Three minors and two adults were killed, and four other people wounded.
Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Jauregui on Monday told reporters in Chihuahua City the shooting was gang-related.