THE BORDER REPORT

Update: The tertiary chisme is that Miguel Treviño Morales, El Zeta 40, was captured in Reynosa. Don't know anything yet; just what's being said.

Another of these ... odd situations seems to be occurring in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, in the past week. Rumors abound that 40 to 60 thugs were killed in a gunbattle with the Mexican Army that left an additional ten soldiers dead. News accounts published in Sonora newspaper, El Imparcial stated that six men total died in a gunbattle on Feb. 8. However, residents appear to be flooding the Internet with remarks about a much higher murder count. Additional commentary here at LaVidaMafiosa, (registration required).

The rumor was that the Sinaloans' specialty crew, Fuerzas Especiales del Cartel de Sinaloa, were the crew that mixed it up with the Army.

If indeed there was a casualty count as high as 50-70 dead total, it would have made sense that the Mexican Feds kept it quiet. Pres. Felipe Calderón visited Juárez yesterday, amidst a scene of a continuing bloodbath that did not abate for one moment of the president's visit. Twelve people were killed throughout the state; including the mayor of a small town. He died within two hours of the president's departure back to Mexico. A soldier was found encobijado in Chihuas the same morning, shortly before the president's arrival. Whether the mayor's killing and that of the soldier were signals of a challenge to the president, I do not know. Whether six people died in Reynosa or 50, I also don't know. Those are the questions that keep this place so interesting though.