On Friday I reported here that several media outlets in Sonora were reporting dozens of dead in a shootout near Saric, Sonora, a few milies south of the Arizona border.
Since then, I've made some calls, read some reports, etc., looking for the truth, and, unfortunately, it's still out there.
Anthony Coulson, who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration's Tucson office, told me today he isn't sure yet what happened.
"It usually takes us a good week to determine what the real story is" he said.
"The most interesting part of all this is, why is this all happening now?" Coulson continued. "Is it about control over a very small piece of terrirtory? Is it a blood feud between two big folks?"
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One report coming from the Policia General Judicial del Estado de Sonora (Sonora's state police) suggested that the incident was a simple battle between competing traffickers over a drug-loaded van. This report, the most conservative of all, said three people died in a battle near the U.S. border.
Coulson said as far as he knows, none of the combatants crossed the border. "We have no reports of anyone leaking over to this side," he said.
U.S. Border Patrol spokeswoman Colleen Agle said her agency has no record of people crossing the border Thursday night in that area east of Sasabe, connected to the shootout.
A person I spoke with in that region recalled the old refrain about news in Mexico — for every story there are three versions: The truth, the official version, and what people are saying. We've got the second two but are still seeking the first.
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