Traffickers’ spat ends with 17 dead
Mexican and Guatemalan drug traffickers arguing about bets on a horse race in a rural border town fought a series of gun battles in which 17 people died, police said.
Guatemala’s National Police spokesman, Donald Gonzalez, said the traffickers were drinking in Santa Ana Huista on Sunday afternoon when the argument broke out, leading to a pursuit in which the men shot at one another with automatic weapons from racing trucks.
Gonzalez said police found grenade launchers at the scene of the final shootout, along with hundreds of bullet cartridges and a truck with license plates from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
More to Read
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.