EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – A shootout between Mexican soldiers and armed civilians has led to the seizure of three vehicles and 31 high-caliber weapons on a highway leading from Juarez to Tornillo, Texas. The shooting took place before dawn Sunday just south of a toll booth on the Samalayuca-Porvenir Highway. Chihuahua state police say toll booth operators called for help after several vehicles carrying armed men sped by. Two Venezuelan men shot in head in Juarez Members of Mexico’s National Guard intercepted the caravan, and a firefight followed. Border Report has obtained photographs showing a shot-up National Guard vehicle, and a rifle lying on the highway after the encounter. Photos obtained by Border Report show a shot-up National Guard vehicle and a rifle abandoned after a gunfight in Juarez. The Guard seized three pickups, two of them with armor plates, four AK-47 rifles, 14 AR-15s, a Barrett .50-caliber rifle, a submachine gun and 11 handguns. The Chihuahua state police said a 25-year-old civilian wounded by gunfire was taken to a Juarez hospital and placed under custody. Nearly 3,000 bullets and an unspecified number of tactical and bulletproof vests also were seized. National Guard vehicles remained on the scene Monday morning. The recently modernized highway is meant to route traffic – especially cargo trucks – entering Juarez from the south to farming communities and to the Marcelino Serna Port of Entry in Tornillo, Texas. Visit the BorderReport.com homepage for the latest exclusive stories and breaking news about issues along the U.S.-Mexico border Some truckers have expressed misgivings about using the highway due to well-documented drug cartel activity in the area known as El Valle de Juarez (Valley of Juarez). A local newspaper has documented at least 11 murders in the vicinity of the highway since May 2023, including the killing of four people during a rolling gun battle between rival criminal groups. Commissioner: Both governments working to make highway safe In El Paso, County Commissioner Precinct 2 David Stout on Monday said he wasn’t aware of the shooting but emphasized that all three levels of government in Mexico are working to ensure the roadway to Tornillo is safe. He said the Mexican highway has security cameras, few access points to prevent “nefarious characters” from easily getting on, and that the private contractor who built the road has hired security patrols. “There is always going to be a concern in Juarez, unfortunately, because of the cartel violence, because of the drug trade, because of the organized crime that can be prevalent in that area,” Stout said. “From what I’ve heard of the concern for truckers and transportation companies and maquilas (about) the perceived lack of security in that side of the border, they feel this highway is very safe.” In Juarez, transportation company executive Manuel Sotelo said violence among organized criminal groups rarely affects border industry, although he acknowledged trucks have been set on fire farther south in Zacatecas, Michoacan and Guerrero. “They don’t have a problem with industry, they have a problem with each other,” he told El Diario, adding he wishes criminals would fight in the desert and not on highways. (KTSM and ProVideo contributed to this report.)