"Barreling down the highway at 100 mph, a convoy of state police vehicles blew through speed bumps as it entered a small town in the Sonoran desert. Blasting over them was hell, but Alejandro Sanchez knew that slowing down was too risky: Here, locals call them death bumps, because reducing your speed gives cartel snipers a better chance of taking you out."
"Sanchez and the officers protecting him had left Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, before sunrise on June 23 and, by 7 a.m., had arrived in Altar. There's not much pedestrian traffic because the town sits in the heart of a cartel war zone, and anyone who walks the streets risks being caught in crossfire. Still, it was a place to gather reinforcements, so the convoy stopped under the town's welcome arch and officers wielding AR-15 semi-automatic weapons found high ground to watch for threats."
"Their destination: a gold mine. Sanchez, the officers knew, was key to the mine's future and keeping it out of the hands of a major cartel. For three years, Sanchez had worked to revive the mine, encountering corrupt officials and cartel operatives. He once had to dive for cover during a firefight. But now he was close to resuming operations at the mine with deposits worth billions. Let's go! Sanchez said. And they were off."
A convoy of state police sped into Altar to protect Alejandro Sanchez as he moved to reclaim a gold mine held by cartel operatives. Local roads contain "death bumps" where slowing increases risk of cartel sniper attacks. Sanchez had spent three years fighting corrupt officials and cartel operatives to revive the mine. Officers took high ground with AR-15s and reinforcements arrived before the team departed for the mine. Sanchez once dove for cover during a firefight but now approached resuming operations with deposits valued in the billions. Four years earlier Sanchez met a partial owner in a Newport Beach cigar lounge and was hired to help reclaim the mine.
Read at english.elpais.com
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