MONTERREY, Nuevo Leon — Mexican officials say a group of gunmen shot a state official and businessman from Tamaulipas during an attempted hold-up. The incident occurred along the highway that connects this city with the border city of Reynosa.

A law enforcement source in Nuevo León confirmed to Breitbart Texas that the attempted highway robbery took place when Hector Javier Olivarez Resendez was traveling near the 38-kilometer marker along the Reynosa-Monterrey Highway near the town of General Bravo. A group of gunmen tried to intercept him, officials stated. Olivarez is the coordinator of Innovation for Tamaulipas and is in the hotel business.

The source said the gunmen tried to make Olivarez stop his car and fired at him. He managed to drive off and reach a military checkpoint seeking help. Olivares was shot during the failed carjacking attempt and the wound was not life-threatening. Once he reached a military checkpoint on the highway, emergency personnel rushed him to a hospital in the city of Reynosa.

The law enforcement source revealed to Breitbart Texas that at least five drivers have been robbed at gunpoint along the highways leading to the border in recent days. The gunmen surprise the drivers in Nuevo Leon just before they reach a toll booth in General Bravo. The gunmen come out of some dirt roads and drive the wrong way towards their victims forcing them to stop and taking their vehicle before fleeing back towards the dirt roads.

The lack of security conditions along the highways in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas has been documented by Breitbart Texas after speaking with law enforcement officials and gathering citizen accounts that point to the problem of taking on cells of gunmen who operate in Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas and are able to flee. The Nuevo Leon government has not commented on the case.

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 Tony Aranda from Nuevo León.