REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — More than 20 people have been killed in the raging violence in this city as two rival cartel factions continue to fight for control of lucrative drug and human trafficking routes.
As Breitbart Texas has been reporting, since last week, rival factions of the Gulf Cartel went to war in an effort to seize control of Reynosa. The fighting has led to convoys of gunmen riding in marked SUVs roaming the streets searching for their rivals. The border city of Reynosa is immediately south of McAllen, Texas.
As a response to the cartel violence, the Tamaulipas government has deployed police tactical teams and has called on the Mexican Army and the Mexican Navy to help suppress cartel activity. Military helicopters with snipers on board have been used contain cartel convoys.
According to the Tamaulipas government, since the violence started there have been 20 individuals killed and six injured, however, local residents claim the death toll is higher. Mexican authorities have seized armored SUV’s, grenades, various automatic weapons and other weapons.
The fighting comes days after as Breitbart Texas reported, the Mexican government killed Juan Manuel “Comandante Toro” Loiza Salinas, the regional leader of the Gulf Cartel in Reynosa. The man known as El Toro had been linked not only to drug trafficking but also to human smuggling, kidnapping, extortion and other violent crimes that have terrorized this border city.
After El Toro’s death, various of his commanders have been fighting to keep control of Reynosa while rival commanders linked to the faction that controls the border city of Matamoros have been making a push for control. The border city of Matamoros is immediately south of Brownsville, Texas.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León 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 “A.C. Del Angel” from Reynosa, Tamaulipas and “J.A. Espinoza” from Matamoros, Tamaulipas.