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.
CIUDAD VICTORIA — Cartel violence continues to rain down terror in this city as two rival factions of the Los Zetas cartel fight for territorial control. The violence continues to hold average citizens hostage as cartel gunmen carry out kidnappings, executions and other violence acts in public venues and in broad daylight.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, two rival factions of the Los Zetas drug cartel have spend a little over seven months fighting over the Ciudad Victoria, the capital of the border state of Tamaulipas. One faction calling themselves Vieja Escuela Z (Old School Z) with the help of another group called Grupo Bravo, have made a push for the city and tried to remove the faction known as Cartel Del Noreste (CDN). The later faction picked that name in an effort to distance themselves from the cruel practices commonly associated with Los Zetas.
Tamaulipas authorities have focused on kidnapping cases since cartel linked groups have taken advantage of the raging violence to target innocent victims for profit. Despite the violence, high ranking government officials have largely ignored the events and as Breitbart Texas previously reported, have ordered the release of captured organized crime leaders, much to the displeasure of police forces on the ground.
On Sunday May 15, a man identified simply as the brother of a leader within Los Zetas in Ciudad Mante was gunned down in the rural community of La Mission. Dozens of community members had gathered there for a horse race, that is where a team of gunmen shot him in the head killing him instantly.
Just an hour after the murder the CDN hung a banner along a poplar highway threatening the Los Zetas leader known as “El Shagui”. It remains unclear if the victim from the earlier execution was related to “El Shagui.”
The CDN had been on the receiving end of violence in recent weeks, but this weekend they launched a new offensive that terrorized the city.
On Monday afternoon, cartel gunmen kidnapped an unidentified bus driver. The man was tortured for hours and eventually taken to a football field in the Solidaridad neighborhood where the gunmen killed him and left the body. Authorities arrived to find the bloody victim’s body bound and gagged.
On Tuesday shortly after noon, a group of gunmen stormed a small business near the intersection of Morelos and 23rd streets. Tamaulipas authorities responded to the scene and began a search operation for the gunmen. At the scene authorities found the body of a 25-year-old man. Police gathered evidence and the body recovered.
Also on Tuesday, authorities caught up with a kidnapper who had one victim at a stash house in the Periodistas neighborhood. Authorities stormed the house and after a brief clash with the armed kidnapper were able to rescue the victim. The kidnapper was rushed to a local hospital for minor injuries before being turned over to authorities. 
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