Mexican cartel leader, 27, 'is busted out of jail by 30 armed men and escapes in back of an ambulance just 24 hours after he was arrested for drugs and human trafficking'

• José Alfredo Hernández Campos was sprung out of a jail in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on Tuesday, a day after he was been arrested by an elite police unit 
• Local media reported that as many as 30 armed men in military gear barged into the prosecution's holding facility and took him away in an ambulance 
• Security forces shot dead one of the suspects and arrested at least three other cartel henchmen
• Hernández Campos reportedly leads a Gulf Cartel cell known as los Metros 
• The cartel cell is reportedly involved a turf battle with other criminal groups over the smuggling of migrants across the United States-Mexico border

Mexican authorities have launched a search for a high-ranking Gulf Cartel leader after an armed gang dressed in military gear busted into a holding facility across from McAllen, Texas and helped him escape.  

José Alfredo Hernández Campos, who is also known as El Metro 27, was sprung out of the Reynosa, Tamaulipas, prosecutor's jail around 7pm Tuesday, just 24 hours after he had been arrested in the municipality of Díaz Ordaz. 

The mission took place after Gulf Cartel leader César 'Primito' Morfín had offered the police a $1 million to allow Hernández Campos to walk out of prison. The cops refused.

According to local reports, at least 30 men carrying rifles barged inside the building and subdued the guards before placing Hernández Campos in an ambulance and escaping

He was being held pending an initial appearance before a judge, according to the Attorney General's Office for the state of Tamaulipas. 

Security forces fanned out looking for the commando but came under fire from men in a vehicle.

The police returned fire, killing one of the occupants and detaining another.

One of those suspects had an identification card purportedly from the Defense Department, though it was not clear if it was genuine. Both had rifles and wore military-style camouflage clothing.

Another two suspects were detained later. Hernández Campos was not among the suspects in the car. 

In recent years, Hernández Campos has steered away from the spotlight while handling the Gulf Cartel's operations in the Tamaulipas cities of Díaz Ordaz and Valadeces. 

An elite police unit apprehended him Monday night.

He was taken to the jail at the local police station but just 24 hours later, he was freed by a gang of armed men. 

According to La Opinión, Hernández Campos oversees a cartel cell that was behind the January massacre of 19 individuals, including 16 Guatemalan migrants, who were shot and burned beyond recognition.

The Metros are one of the larger factions of the now-splintered Gulf cartel, who have been fighting rival factions for control of the area, including the smuggling of migrants. 

Hernández Campos is being accused of drug trafficking and trafficking undocumented migrants across the United States-Mexico border. 

Assaults by cartel gunmen to free captured suspects are not uncommon in Tamaulipas, where remnants of the Gulf Cartel and the old Zetas gang have been carrying out turf battles for more than a decade. 

The border cities are lucrative routes for smuggling drugs and migrants.