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 “M.A. Navarro” from Ciudad Victoria.
TAMPICO, Tamaulipas — Cartel gunmen murdered one Mexican Marine and kidnapped three others. The three members of a special intelligence unit were tortured for hours by members of the Gulf Cartel until their release this weekend. The case has been suppressed by the Mexican Navy and ignored by local news outlets.
In the days prior to their kidnapping, the four Mexican Marines were part of a team that had been carrying out intelligence gathering operations targeting the structure of the Gulf Cartel in this Mexican city. The criminal organization is currently led by Hector “R3” Cresencio de Leon Fonseca.
The kidnapping took place early Saturday morning near the city airport when the four individuals dressed in civilian clothing and went to a local bar. At the business, a woman approached them and began asking questions since the men were not habitual clients.
Cartel gunmen went to the bar after being notified that military looking individuals had been spotted there. The Four Mexican Marines fired their handguns into the air as they ran to their vehicle and attempted to drive away. Shortly after, two other vehicles caught up with them and the cartel gunmen began firing with assault rifles killing the driver.
The victim’s body was left behind near a local hospital while the other three Mexican Marines were kidnapped and tortured for hours even though they identified themselves as military.
Other Mexican military officials who spoke with Breitbart Texas under the condition of anonymity identified two of the gunmen as local cartel members who went by the nicknames “Damaso or R-38” and “Jors or R-10”. The military officials blew the whistle on a lack of trust within the institution where various ranking officials have been corrupted by cartel money.
Breitbart Texas previously reported on corruption within the Mexican Navy that, at the time, had ties with the then cartel boss Silvestre “El Chive” Haro Rodriguez. That cartel boss had been the main target of the individual known as El Marino Loko, a special forces marine who had made a sport of hunting down cartel bosses and ridiculing them. Suspiciously, when Marino Loko was close to capturing his target, Haro Rodriguez, Loko was transferred out of the city.
According to the military officials who spoke with this outlet, since Marino Loko was removed from the city, the Mexican Marines under the leadership of Captain Luis Cuauhtemoc Guerra Chacon has failed to yield any results. The capture of the key figures within Haro’s organization have been carried out by Mexico’s Federal Police and Tamaulipas Police forces, not the Mexican Navy, the officials said.
The recent murder of the military official and the kidnapping of the three others points to an increase in tensions between Mexican authorities and the Gulf Cartel. It is possible this could result in a series of clashes in the near future.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated.
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