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Major organized crime clashes in northwest Sonora leave 8 dead

A series of armed confrontations left a bloody toll in northwestern Sonora over the weekend.

Eight people were reported dead by authorities after a gun battle between members of rival organized criminal groups that started in neighboring Baja California and crossed into a small Sonoran community about 40 minutes south of the Arizona border. San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, Mayor Santos Gonzalez told KJZZ News that among the dead was a 7-year-old.

“That morning turned into a war,” he said in a video released Monday morning.

He also said local, state and federal forces were able to control the situation by midday Saturday. During and after the bloody incident, authorities made eight arrests, and seized several dozen vehicles and a number of weapons and other gear.

Murphy Woodhouse was a senior field correspondent at KJZZ from 2018 to 2023.