The local forum, Viva San Carlos, was abuzz yesterday with news that sounded like a description of a Wild West showdown. I heard about it in my insurance agent's office when reports came in over the radio.
Here on the Sonora coast we have felt somewhat insulated from the drug wars and systematic executions of law officers by the cartels, until yesterday afternoon when the chief of the state investigative police was assassinated in his car in Guaymas, along with a woman some reports identified as his wife. I Googled Ezequiel Quintero Alcántar, and found he was actually based in or near Empalme, the next town south from Guaymas on the coast, where according to Charlie, a gringo friend of mine who has lived here many years, the illicit drug business is booming. But Charlie does have a tendency to exaggerate, I always reminded myself.
No photos of Alcántar were available. Investigators are convinced the attackers were professionals, using high-powered firearms that resembled AK-47s.
The assailants were driving a black Jeep Cherokee, and when police from three different agencies chased them to Empalme, with shots being fired from the Jeep, they abandoned that car at an intersection and got away in a white Silverado pickup.
Considering the number of shots fired, the high-speed chase and the number of people involved, it's amazing no bystanders were injured.