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 a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Matamoros’ “JA Espinoza.”
MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — Heavily armed Gulf Cartel Gunmen tried to kidnap the former mayor of this border city. Authorities are trying to keep the case under wraps. Despite their efforts, the attempted kidnapping has become a hotly debated topic as citizens claim that no one is safe.
Various sources in and out of law enforcement confirmed to the Cartel Chronicles that a group of gunmen carried out a failed kidnapping attempt against former Matamoros Mayor Alfonso Sanchez Garza earlier this week. Neither the state nor federal government have made any official statement in the case.
Sanchez Garza, was elected mayor in 2010 and served one term before retiring to the private sector. On Wednesday morning shortly after 10 a.m., the former mayor was driving a truck along Calle Primera (First Street) and Canales. This is an area in the downtown part of Matamoros and not far from two international bridges.
As Sanchez drove his vehicle, a dark Chevrolet Trailblazer cut him off. Multiple gunmen stormed out of pointing weapons at him. They ordered him out of the vehicle. Sanchez sped off and immediately called for help.
Mexican authorities combed the area but were not able to find the gunmen.
Just hours after the incident, Jesus Roberto Guerra, Sanchez’s father-in-law and also a former mayor of Matamoros took to social media to denounce the “attempted kidnapping or robbery.” He called for more security in the city including a municipal police force.
Sanchez’s kidnapping comes just days after Marte Rodriguez De la Garza, a high-profile businessman in this city, was also kidnapped. He was held by gunmen for two days before his family paid a ransom, sources with direct knowledge of the case confirmed to Cartel Chronicles.
Rodriguez De La Garza was a close associate of former Tamaulipas Governor Tomas Yarrington who is now a wanted fugitive sought by the U.S. Department of Justice. Yarrington is wanted on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. According to Mexico’s El Siglo De Torreon, Rodriguez De la Garza spent some time in jail in connection to the case but has since been released.
The kidnappings of the former border mayor and a high-profile businessman who, at one point were considered untouchable, highlight the unstoppable wave of kidnappings in broad daylight that has descended on the border cities of Matamoros and Reynosa.
The apparent motive for the kidnappings were the failure to pay the “taxes or fees” that the Gulf Cartel has imposed on local businessmen in the city. This. once again, shows how the criminal organization is able to operate as an alternative government despite all the assurance as to how the border is safe.
The failed kidnapping delivers a slap in the face to the Tamaulipas government which has just unveiled their new state of the art anti-kidnapping unit that Breitbart Texas reported on.