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By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of five unidentified armed suspects were killed in an armed encounter in Zacatecas state early Friday morning, and two unidentified Mexican federal ministerial agents were found dead in Fresnillo municipality, also Friday morning, according to Mexican news accounts.
A story posted on the website of Milenio news daily reported that a Mexican Naval infantry road patrol came under small arms fire following an attempted traffic stop at around 0240 hrs along Mexico Federal Highway 44 in Valparaiso municipality, near the village of Pomas.
Seizures which usually accompany such encounters were not disclosed, however. Milenio reported that guns and ammunition were seized along with vehicles.
A separate report on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas news daily said that Mexican marine units in the area intensified patrol operations augmented with a helicopter following the incident.
Neither report disclosed the cartel affiliation of armed suspects who died in the encounter.
One unidentified Mexican marine was killed following the firefight when he was hit by one of the suspect vehicles as they attempted to run a military checkpoint.
Meanwhile in Fresillo municipality, the two ministerial agents were found on Avenida Hidalgo, bound hand and foot, and presumably tortured to death. The agents had been reported kidnapped some hours before they were found.
In related news, Policia Federal (PF) units located a large stash of ammunition at a safe house in Enrique Estrada municipality early Thursday morning. The find was reportedly made as a result of intelligence operations by the PF.
According to a news account posted on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas, a total of 16,500 rounds of ammunition and 495 weapons magazines were seized, along with nine liners for tactical vests. No arrests were reported.
Muertes en Fresnillo
Two unidentified individuals were shot to death at a grocery store in Fresnillo municipality Friday afternoon, according to a news report which appeared on the website of El Sol de Zacatecas Friday night.
According to the report, the victims were shot by a lone armed suspect at the Czech grocery store near the intersection of calles Reforma Agraria and Congreso del Estado. The weapons used was an AK-47 assault rifle.
The area is allegedly used by drug lookouts and for retail drug sales.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com