Authorities in Mission, Texas are investigating a shootout between a local police officer and an armed suspected human smuggler working for the Gulf Cartel near the US-Mexico border.
The incident occurred on the south side of Mission in a rural area and known migrant smuggling corridor along the Rio Grande riverbank.
Details are unclear but reports say the officer confronted the smuggler who was armed, leading to an exchange of gunfire where both sustained serious injuries and were hospitalized, with the suspect listed in critical condition.
The shooting comes as the Gulf Cartel is embroiled in an internal turf war between factions that has led smugglers on both sides of the border to increasingly carry weapons.
Officials believe the suspect was working with smugglers from the Metros faction based in Reynosa, Mexico.
The investigation is ongoing into the confrontation between US law enforcement and an armed cartel associate near the porous border.
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