Eight men and a woman are behind bars after kidnapping five people and getting into a gun battle with Mexican soldiers in San Fernando.
Mexico's Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) reported that the incident happened around 11:50 a.m. Friday.
SEDENA officials said the Mexican army was conducting an aerial patrol when they spotted a convoy of vehicles with armed men.
Soldiers approached the area and came under fire.
SEDENA officials report that soldiers won the gun battle and freed five alleged kidnapping victims.
Authorities seized a cache of weapons and ammunition and then arrested eight armed men and one woman as suspects.
Neither the names of the suspects nor the kidnapping victims were released but the case remains under investigation by federal officials.
Located about 90 minutes south of Matamoros, San Fernando has been a hot spot for drug cartel violence.
The agricultural and ranching town was also the location of a gruesome massacre of 72 Central and South American immigrants last year.
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