"Zeta killers" behind gun battle which left three Jalisco police officers dead

Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco -
Three state police officers were killed Tuesday evening during a shootout with heavily armed assailants in this town 50 kilometers east of Guadalajara.

The firefight began about 7:00 p.m. and lasted for more than three hours. Authorities threw dozens of local and state police officers into the furious gun battle, eventually using armored vehicles to subdue the attackers. The state police dead included a senior Jalisco commander. Four gunmen were killed, and several others were seriously wounded.

State prosecutors reported today that the gunmen were a local cell of Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, commonly known as Los Matazetas, or the "Zeta killers." The cell operated out of Lagos de Moreno, in northeastern Jalisco, and Tepatitlán, a city of over 100,000, where they carried out kidnappings for ransom - perhaps as many as 27, some of which ended in the victim's homicide.

One of several men taken into custody Tuesday night is a 33 year old ex-police officer who served on the Ciudad Guzmán municipal force from 2001 to 2007. Guzmán is 75 miles south of Guadalajara. Other CJNG cell members killed Tuesday evening or who are now in custody may also be former police officers, authorities said.

Police units were attacked with hand grenades and heavy caliber automatic weapons fire. Several officers remain hospitalized with life threatening shrapnel wounds. It is unclear how the battle erupted.

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A CJNG safehouse and armament depot in Tepatitlán was almost destroyed by grenade blasts

Oct. 10 - Spain again warns its citizens about dangers of Mexico
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Aug. 7 - As deadline looms for completion of police background checks, many fail to measure up
July 18 - Matazeta arrested in 2008 case of 12 men decapitated in Mérida, Yucatán

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