UPDATE: Mexican military surrounds Matamoros police station
Officers ordered to surrender guns, patrol units
MATAMOROS - Mexican military have surrounded the Matamoros and Reynosa Municipal Police Stations, searching officers, vehicles and weapons.
Witnesses say the military surrounded the police station building around 7 a.m. today. More than 300 police officers across the city are being brought in to be searched, along with personal cars and police-issued weapons.
Officers at the city's precincts across the city are also being searched.
Brownsville Herald Reporter Jose Borjon says at this hour the Matamoros office is surrounded by 50 to 60 military.
He says three Matamoros police officers were taken into custody and that military officials seized a semi-automatic rifle that was reportedly not registered to the police department.
He says there are an additional 40 to 50 Matamoros police units in the area. The Mexican military has reportedly told officers to surrender their vehicles and weapons.
The guns are being inspected to determine if they rightfully belong to the department.
The military is undertaking similar operations today in Nuevo Laredo and Rio Bravo, according to press reports from Monterrey and Mexico City.
In Reynosa, military vehicles and personnel are blocking access to the station.
The raids come after weeks of violence has shocked citizens of the border cities as the Mexican military battles drug cartels.
The latest was three bodies found at the bottom of a canal in Reynosa. Police are investigating a link between drug gangs and those deaths.
Check back to brownsvilleherald.com as more information becomes available.
