“HEARST” for Borderland Beat

A police chase and shootout with cartel hitmen in Reynosa led to the seizure of 40 radios, ammo, and guns.

The Chase in Reynosa

During the afternoon of Monday, January 16, 2023, the emergency phone line received a call about two pickup trucks firing weapons in the Aquiles Serdán neighborhood, near La Playita recreational center, in the city of Reynosa. 

A State Police patrol unit was dispatched to check in on the area. At approximately 4:00pm, the patrol vehicle drove onto the road that leads to the Rancho Grande neighborhood. Hitmen inside a white SUV and a blue pickup truck immediately opened fire on them. 

The officers returned fire and chased after the pickup trucks however the patrol vehicle ended up falling into a ditch and they were unable to continue the chase. 

The dispatcher sent two more patrol units, who caught up with the hitmen’s vehicles on the road that leads to Longoria – except now the two vehicles had linked up with a third, a black pickup truck also full of hitmen. 

Hitmen in all three of the vehicles fired shots at the patrol vehicles. After the two sides exchanged gunfire, the white SUV positioned itself in the middle of the road and parked, blocking the road, covering the escape of the two pickup trucks. The hitmen in the white SUV got out of their vehicle, took a few more shots, then fled on foot. Police were unable to catch up to them. 

Officers eventually managed to maneuver around the white SUV and they found that the blue pickup truck had been abandoned in a section of underbrush. 

Inside the white SUV they found: 

Ammo

1 black bulletproof vest

4 radios

Inside the blue pickup truck they found:

Ammo

1 AK-47 type long-barrel firearm

A long-barrel firearm with the stock missing

41 communication radios

16 radio chargers