In a recent case (http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3862340/posts?page=19#19), a group from Cartel Del Noreste (Cartel of the Northeast), a sub-group of the larger Los Zetas, ran into a Military patrol, and the Military outgunned them handily. 12 were machine gunned down on the spot, 4 more dead recovered from local hospitals.
They (CDN) openly drive around in Nuevo Laredo as if they own the place, bristling weapons and wearing military style uniforms with CDN patches on the shoulders, and logos on their vehicles.
A few years ago, cartels fighting over Nuevo Laredo got so bad, that the police force had to be dismantled due to corruption, and the Military patrolled the city under martial law. So the Military is experienced (and equipped) for dealing with them (Concentrated, high volume fire - typically shooting first, before trying to chat them up).
In recent months though https://www.breitbart.com/border/2020/06/09/video-inside-an-armored-mexican-cartel-convoy-near-texas-border/), Los Zetas groups (like CDN) have been shooting it out with groups from the Gulf Cartel, like Los Metros, for routes in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, where wall construction is just getting underway. It is currently still the highest trafficked Sector. Often, the authorities (both Police and Military) just stand clear until the shooting is over, and let them kill each other (taking fewer casualties of their own).
They have been going at each other with machine guns, grenades, and .50 cal sniper rifles, and it is really just starting in earnest.
Improvised Armored Vehicles used in Cartel gun battle, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande Valley Sector:
Some militarized Gulf Cartel shooters:
