Mexican drug lords go on killing rampage, gun down 6 police officers who stole drug shipment

Angered drug lords reportedly hunted down police officers in the Mexican border city of Tijuana after their drug shipment was stolen.

Two of the officers who are believed to have taken part in the theft were killed, according to KNSD. Three other police officers were also killed in the retributive act, leading authorities to conclude that the drug lords could have launched a generalized attack against the police.

According to prosecutors, around six local and state police officers drummed up a plot to steal a large shipment of drugs in Tijuana from a warehouse where they believed the drugs to have been stored.

Video footage was revealed last week showing the police officers' truck pulling out of the warehouse area with large bales of cocaine.

State Prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade stated last week that three state detectives were being investigated in the case, along with three local officers in Tijuana.

The Associated Press reported that Alberto Capella, the former head of Tijuana's police force from 2007 to 2008 and then again from 2011 to 2013, said that stolen drugs appeared to have belonged to the Sinaloa cartel, likely the most powerful cartel in the town. The cartel believed to own the drugs is run by Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

According to reports, the cartel apparently knew who took the drugs almost immediately.

Just hours after the theft on November 18, gunmen peppered the federal prosecutors' office in Tijuana with gunfire. And within an hour, one of the police officers believed to have taken part in the theft was gunned down on a street in Tijuana.

A week later, on November 24, gunmen again targeted the state prosecutors' office with more gunfire. The AP reported that no one was injured in the attack.

And then on November 27, a state detective who was under investigation for the theft was gunned down in his car while filling up at a gas station in Tijuana. It appears that the detective could see that the attack was coming, as he was able to get back in his car and move forward a few feet before members of the cartel got to him.

The assailants apparently got away on a motorcycle.

The recent attack is just the latest in Tijuana, which sports the highest homicide rate of any city in Mexico. The town has about 2.1 million people and has experienced around 2,000 homicides annually over the past several years.

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