20 Mexican Drug Cartel Hitmen Storm Police Station in Mexico to Free Men of Los Zetas Boss 'Chuy 7'

A group of Mexican drug cartel hitmen raided a police station in Mexico on Saturday to allegedly free the men of "Chuy 7" of Los Zetas Cartel.

According to the Daily Star, at least 20 drug cartel gunmen on four vehicles attacked the State Police's offices in San Fernando, Tamaulipas at around 3 p.m.

A video clip shared on social media showed the armed suspects leaving their vehicles and started walking into the police station.

Borderland Beat reported that the Mexican drug cartel hitmen had outnumbered the cops at the police station near Abasolo and Margarita Masa streets in the Bella Vista neighborhood of the city.

Consequently, the police officers were forced to release the drug cartel members locked inside a patrol car. After taking the detainees, the gunmen re-entered their vehicles and left.

Reports noted that only the municipal police from Matamoros and Valle Hermoso responded to the call for reinforcements. The military and the General Investigation Unit allegedly ignored the call.

Local reports differed on how many drug cartel members were taken from custody. El Manana alleged four, while Excelsior said three. Cartel news Twitter account La Voz de Pueblo noted that the drug cartel hitmen freed two. However, it was still unknown if those rescued could be associates or rivals of their group as authorities have yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident.

Mexican Drug Cartel in Mexico Used Water Truck and Road Spikes to Block Police Chasing Them

Shortly after the raid on the police station, drivers said suspicious vehicles were stopping on the San Fernando-Matamoros federal highway, according to Borderland Beat.

The outlet reported that the Mexican drug cartel hitmen intentionally blocked the highway using a water truck. The gunmen also placed metal tire puncture devices to prevent the law enforcement from easily following them as they continued to flee the area.

The municipality of San Fernando at Tamaulipas in Mexico is known to be plagued by Mexican drug cartels.

According to Borderland Beat, San Fernando was controlled by the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel or Cartel del Golfo (CDG) based on 2021 intelligence reports.

Other reports claimed that the municipality is under the control of Zetas Vieja Escuela, a splinter group that emerged from the Los Zetas Cartel.

However, the group has reportedly always self-identified as a Gulf Cartel group rather than a Los Zetas group.

Detained Criminals May Be Connected to 'Chuy 7' of Los Zetas Cartel

Few details are available about the armed suspects and detainees who were freed. However, La Voz de Pueblo reported that one of those in custody was "close" to Carlos Roel Collazo Rodriguez, who also goes by the aliases "Chuy 7," "El Chuy Sierra," and "El Collazo."

However, there were also reports that it was Chuy 7 who was detained, along with others, inside the patrol car. According to Borderland Beat, Chuy 7, who started his criminal career working with Los Zetas Cartel, was arrested in Monterrey at Nuevo Leon, Mexico in 2012, when he was 22 years old.

During his arrest, Chuy 7 was identified as a member of a "Zetas estaca," a term used by Los Zetas to refer to its hitmen teams. Since 2019, Chuy 7 has been rumored to be the "Zetas" plaza boss in San Fernando. "Zetas," in this case, likely refers to Zetas Vieja Escuela.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

WATCH: Inside the Zetas Cartel: Cocaine & Crude with Suroosh Alvi - From VICE News