Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the Gulf Cartel if pseudonyms were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Rio Bravos “ME MArtinez.”
REYNOSA, Tamaulipas—A recent shootout in this border city created controversy as to whether a high-ranking capo within the Gulf Cartel had been arrested, if he had managed to escape. He was also asked if he had taken part in an ironic twist in which authorities extort capos in order to guarantee their release.
The August 4th shootout as reported by Breitbart Texas had all the markings of a high-profile capture since cartel gunmen set up blockades in multiple areas of the city as they fought with authorities.
The fighting resembled to a lesser extent a similar case in April when about 60 members of the Gulf Cartel brought terror to this border city as they tried to rescue the then head of the Gulf Cartel, a man who went by the name Jose “El Gafe” Tiburcio Hernandez as well as multiple other aliases. In that shootout the gunmen also set up blockades and torched vehicles, Breitbart Texas reported.
At the end of the August 4th shootout, the Tamaulipas government issued out a small news release claiming that the shootout had been due to an operation and that neither arrests nor casualties had resulted out of that operation.
However just two days later, Mexico’s Interior Secretary Miguel Osorio Chong gave a speech in which he said that the shootouts in Tamaulipas had been due to the arrest of a high-profile criminal, Reynosa’s El Mañana reported.
“I want to tell you that what you heard about Tamaulipas is because we arrested one of the most important criminals, we had to pursue him and we had to fight him,” Chong is quoted by el Manana.
Chong then said that no civilians were injured during the arrest since authorities were working intelligence and using “other ways” off apprehending them.
However, as the days went by authorities never released the name of the captured capo or additional information about the shootout in Reynosa.
The details of the case of the missing capo is very similar to a series of occurrences that have been taking place along this borer region where cartel commanders have been getting arrested but are quickly released after paying a ransom/bribe.
One of those cases took place in May when Jesus “Wero Jesse” Garcia and one of his associates named Gabriel Arellano were arrested by Mexican authorities in Reynosa.
Garcia’s capture never made the news, however, citizen journalists talked about it on social media. Much to their surprise, the authorities never publicized the capture. Sources consulted for this story confirmed that Garcia paid $500,000 to Mexican authorities in May for his release.
Garcia didn’t stay quiet after his release; he quickly got on social media, where he began bragging about their release on Instagram. In a conversation with Arellano, the two men mocked the “Aguacates” or avocados, a term used to refer to Mexican soldiers or police officers.
In recent months, authorities have also captured Julian Manuel “Comandante Toro” Loisa Salinas, the current head of Los Metro, and Cleofas Alberto “Wero Cleofas” Martinez Gutierrez. The authorities have cut them loose after they paid a hefty ransom.
Breitbart Texas through the Cartel Chronicles previously reported on the capture and release of Loisa. Breitbart Texas has also previously reported on a group of Mexican federal police officers arrested in the border city of Matamoros in connection with the kidnapping for ransom of local businessmen.
In the following Instagram posts, Un Tal Wero Armani which is an account used by Jesus “El Wero Jesse” Garcia talks in Spanish with his associate about how they bribed Mexican authorities and were able to fool authorities.
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