GRAPHIC — Gulf Cartel Commander Stabbed to Death in Border Prison

TAMPICO, Tamaulipas — A top commander with the Gulf Cartel died after three inmates stabbed him numerous times in a border a state prison. 

Hector Adrian “La Yegua” Lucio Benavidez died late Monday as he was leaving the prison infirmary and was attacked by three inmates, information provided to Breitbart Texas by law enforcement sources revealed. Lucio was described by Mexican authorities as a top cartel figure linked to various high-profile kidnappings, executions, fuel theft, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. 

Late last month, detectives with the Nuevo Leon State Investigations Agency arrested Lucio Benavides in Monterrey and turned him over to Tamaulipas authorities for prosecution on various charges tied to cartel kidnappings, Breitbart Texas reported at the time. 

Days after being sent to the prison in Altamira, Lucio died at the hand of three inmates. As the victim was being escorted by a guard back to his cell, one of three inmates assaulted the guard while the rest held down Lucio and stabbed him with makeshift shanks. Authorities were able to arrest the three inmates and process them for murder charges. 

As Breitbart Texas reported, La Yegua was linked to a failed kidnapping in the Guadalupe suburb of Monterrey, which escalated into a large-scale gun battle. La Yegua sent a team of approximately 15 men to kidnap a businessman believed tied to organized crime as he was eating at a restaurant. The grab failed when the gunmen opened fire on passing police, triggering a call for official backup. After a full-scale shootout, state police managed to arrest 13 of the cartel men–but a judge later released them.

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 and “J.M. Espinoza” from Coahuila.