Gunfights erupt again after Mexican drug lord arrested

A drug lord's capture triggered firefights in Mexico's troubled northern state of Tamaulipas on Wednesday, as his henchmen tried to rescue him in the second such incident in days.

Four state police officers were wounded in the violence that erupted after the arrest of the criminal group's local chief and three accomplices in Altamira, the state's security task force said in a statement.

The gang blocked access to Altamira and two other municipalities with vehicles on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico "in an attempt to prevent that the detainees be taken to Mexico City," the statement said, adding that authorities reclaimed control.

The statement did not name the gang but an official in the Tamaulipas prosecutor's office said it was the Gulf cartel, a group that has been dealt heavy blows in recent months.

A federal official identified the captured leader as Antonio Hato Maya, who was caught by the army and local police.

A similar but deadlier situation erupted last Friday when some 60 cartel gunmen attacked security forces in Reynosa, a city bordering the United States, in a bid to rescue their leader after his arrest.

The clashes in Reynosa, which sits across from McAllen, Texas left three assailants dead and two officers wounded. The man arrested that day was Jose Tiburcio Hernandez, alias "El Gafe," leader of one of the cartel's three warring factions.

The federal government deployed extra troops to Tamaulipas to tame a bout of violence last year, but more deadly clashes have taken place this year.

The authorities have captured several Gulf cartel leaders in recent years. Officials say much of the violence is related to internal power struggles following arrests.

The government says it has also severely weakened the Gulf gang's rivals in the state, the Zetas drug cartel, whose latest chief was snared this year.