POLICE ON GUARD WHILE NEARBY DRUG CARTEL WARS RAGE

MATAMOROS, -- Bloody gunfights that have plagued northern Mexico border
cities in recent weeks will continue until a new leader emerges to fill the
void left by the arrests and deaths of drug cartel leaders, experts said
Tuesday.

That means Matamoros could be the scene of another dangerous shootout like
the March incident that resulted in the arrest of Osiel Cardenas, who
headed the notorious Gulf cartel from his Matamoros home.

"The wars are going to increase until somebody emerges. In the meantime, a
lot of people are going to get hurt," said Andres Cuellar, a former social
studies professor in Matamoros. "I don't see any possibility of stopping
them by the way we are doing things.

"Here in Matamoros, we can expect a worse or a similar situation like Nuevo
Laredo or the recent killing in Reynosa." On Sunday, a former military
commander was shot and killed in Reynosa in a hail of machine gun fire. The
assassination came less than two weeks after an Aug. 1 gun battle in Nuevo
Laredo between police and suspected members of Pacific Coast cartel.

Three suspects were killed in that incident and close to 150 police
officers have been suspended as part of a corruption investigation related
to the incident.

Ruben Dario, Tamaulipas State Attorney's General office's spokesman said
Nuevo Laredo has seen more than 30 murders so far this year, most of them
attributed to drug trafficking disputes.

And while authorities in Matamoros say the city is safe, they also
acknowledge that turf wars are bound to erupt.

"Anytime an individual of his (Cardenas) stature is immobilized, the
natural thing that happens is you have power struggles and turf wars,"
Cuellar said.

Cardenas, who some say still controls the Gulf cartel, is known to have
shipped billions of dollars worth of illegal drugs each year from Mexico
into the United States. He was arrested March 14 and taken to a
maximum-security prison in Mexico City following a 20-minute shootout that
terrified residents.

But while Cuellar worries, officials at Matamoros Police Department said
Tuesday the city is under control and prepared for any violence.

"It has been very quiet," said Matamoros Police Chief Hiram Gonzalez. "We
don't have any indication that the wave of violence can touch Matamoros."