Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas and Coahuila 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 various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas 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 Reynosas’ “AC Del Angel” 

REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Organized crime members continue to use social media, not only as a way to show off their lifestyle, but also as a way to get information out to the public through leaks, news releases and other methods similar to what Mexican authorities have done.

A recent audio leaked to social media and obtained by Breitbart Texas through the Cartel Chronicles project caused commotion. The audio showed that the criminal organization planned on bringing back the use of car bombs in an effort to get back at authorities. Through an in-depth investigation, Breitbart Texas further documented the various car-bombs attacks that a group from the Gulf Cartel has carried out since 2010.

In response to the audio being leaked to social media and two days after Breitbart Texas published a story on it, the leader of the Los Metros faction with the Gulf Cartel based in Reynosa Julian “Comandante Toro” Loisa Salinas placed a series of narco-banners along his city’s main avenues.  In his banners, Loisa Salinas addresses Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, Tamaulipas Governor Egidio Torre Cantu and the Reynosa mayor in an effort to change the public’s perception and the bad image created by the leaked audio. The cartel boss claims to not be a “terrorist,” but says he is a drug trafficker.

In a second news release by the Gulf Cartel, the criminal group aims to address the mention of another leader within the criminal organization who has been linked to multiple car bombs. Octavio “El Moncada” Leal Moncada, is mentioned in the audio as the man that cartel members would send out to set off car bombs at various law enforcement agencies in Tamaulipas. Moncada is also the leader of the Pedro J. Mendez Armed Wing, a group that claims to be a self-defense movement in Tamaulipas, but the group in the past has identified itself through YouTube videos as an enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel group in Hidalgo Tamaulipas.

Like Loisa Salinas did with the banners, Moncada took to a Facebook page to issue out an awkwardly written statement claiming that online media outlets were trying to discredit his group.

Through their banners and news releases, drug cartels are accusing the government of leaking information and manipulating news outlets. The move appears to show that the drug cartels have been bothered by the information that has been released about them.

Below is the full text in English of the news release by the Pedro J Mendez Armed Wing:

TO THE TOWNS OF HIDALGO, VILLAGRAN AND MAINERO, TAMAULIPAS

Months ago a social media page accused the General Pedro Jose Mendez armed wing of having been tied to kidnappings, extortions and murders, VILE LIE AND PERVERSE SLANDER.

Today they use technology to incite barbary through messages and social media and call for lies before the weakness by the state in order to provide justice. We are living through the worst security and legitimacy crisis in recent years.

Human rights are violated at any moment and they control the media on behalf of the state showing a system that is infected by corruption and cover-ups.

The montages are at a moments notice and create guilty parties through Historic Truths like the Ayotzinapa students. They legitimize illegal actions and abhorrent judicial actions by the government. They create a show to give the people circus, and theatre, the tether of deceit by those tho take part in this farce and are guilty parties in this montage to create a historic truth.

The emissaries of deceit display their impotence and it is Los Zetas–the ones who ran away from Hidalgo Villagran and Mainero. The lies that come from cowards have not real value.

“We shall win”

Armed Wing General Pedro Jose Mendez Hidalgo Tamaulipas.