I did a quick search but didnt see anything referencing this...

What i have is a slide show of the aftermath of a couple of drug cartel's 2 hour gun battle in Mexico. Now I will warn you a couple of the shots in the slideshow are fairly graphic (specifically slides six and seven) so be wary of opening this at work.

Nuevo Laredo Cartel Gun Battle

What stuck me for shadowrun purposes is how cheaply and easily they made themselves a fairly effective fighting force. Things like macguyver-ed guns from other gun parts, home made stocks, personalized kits / slings, and even basic training and guerrilla tactics in an urban environment that made for one hell of a running fight.

I could very easily see a group of gangers, syndicates or even runners doing the same types of things.

One thing to note though...at least one of these images is not from the actual incident...the red SUV was supposedly added from a different story so take some of the sales pitch with a grain of salt...its more than likely an end of year budget increase justification type deal.

Else wise, what do you think?

Many people think of the Mexican gangs and Cartels as just being a bunch of criminal rabble, sort of like street gangs. They are in reality frighteningly trained and well-equipped, and practically quasi-military units in their own right.

Don't believe me? Check out the Wikipedia article on Los Zetas. There's also a Gangland episode on them. In the Caracas game I'm running here, I modelled the gang La Alianza off of Los Zetas. Instead of being a bunch of dumb-asses with guns, they are instead capable of getting into shootouts with the police and winning more often than not.

Heh. heh. I remember seeing a picture of that haul. Not a lick of it looked jury-rigged.

From Vice it seems the Ancients are like that.

288 assault rifles, etc.

Don't forget, these guys eventually organize themselves into ORO, which becomes Aztechnology.