Sinaloa drug cartel gangsters have been let loose by their bosses to shoot and kill US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents, NewsNation reported Thursday. There has always been an understanding between the cartels and the border patrol that gangs won’t use lethal force against US agents lest they invite a massive retaliatory response from US security and police.

But all cards are on the table since the arrest of two senior syndicate bosses, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada and Joaquín Guzmán López, means younger gangsters are battling it out for control of the organized crime unit. The syndicate’s civil war means that its frontline gang members aren’t exercising any caution when it comes to using force to evade capture. The change in procedure was picked up by the El Paso, TX sector of CBP, which has been warning agents across the southern border to exercise extreme caution and not to assume that Sinaloa border gangsters will not try to kill them.

Just last week, according to the memo obtained by NewsNation, ranch contractors in the Eagle Pass area of the Del Rio Sector in Texas said they were fired upon by shooters in Mexico. The workers reported seeing numerous individuals where the firing originated but it was impossible to assess exactly how many. There were no fatalities or injuries reported as a result of the shooting.

Victor Avila, a former special agent within Homeland Security Investigation, told NewsNation that CBP and all law enforcement agencies connected with border security should take this new development very seriously as it indicates the structural deterioration of the Sinaloa cartel and the willingness of the surviving factions to take greater risks to commit their criminal activity. “The No. 1 reason they fight for these plazas is because these plazas are the corridors to enter the United States, whether California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and that’s the major fight because the Sinaloa cartel has controlled that whole area,” Avila said.

CBP says it is very concerned about the heightened aggression from the cartel and deems it unacceptable for them to threaten the lives of border patrol agents. It has vowed to safeguard its members and any migrants in their custody.

Along with the more heightened level of violence, the syndicate also appears to be using more sophisticated, military grade weaponry to commit its crimes. A cache of such equipment was found near Ajo, AZ, on the other side of the border.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump told NewsNation that the situation demands the response of US troops. “We need a military operation. These people have become military,” Trump said. “They’re very rich, have a lot of money. They’re among the richest people, probably in the world.”