MIGUEL ALEMAN, Tamaulipas – Cartel gunmen from Los Zetas forced a kidnapped Mexican politician to talk about his ties to a rival organization that dominates this border city. The confession was video recorded and shared on social media as a way to justify the kidnapping and announce the Zeta’s plan to take control of the region.
Last week, Miguel Aleman Mayor Servando Lopez Moreno made headlines when he publicly announced that one of his councilmen, Herbey Barrera, had been kidnapped. Barrera is the husband of Claudia Ochoa Iniguez, a former federal congresswoman from Tamaulipas who is expected to run for a higher office in the near future. Miguel Aleman is directly south of Roma, Texas, and is considered one of the busiest smuggling corridors for drugs and humans used by the Gulf Cartel.
Almost a week after the kidnapping, a team of gunmen from the Cartel Del Noreste (CDN) faction of Los Zetas released a video where they apparently interrogate Barrera. The politician is seen blindfolded, handcuffed, and kneeling between two CDN gunmen while a third man off-camera asks about ties to the Gulf Cartel.
In the video, Barrera confirms his identity and says he works for a Gulf Cartel operative named Jesus “Chuy El Nalgas” or “Butt Cheeks” Garza Moreno. Barrera said that some drugs from a recent seizure in Rancherias belonged to him, with the rest attributed to Garza Moreno and Chuy “El Patotas” or “Bigfoot” Hernandez.
During the interrogation, Barrera also names several Gulf Cartel operators and various businessmen tied to them. At the end of the short video, one of the Los Zetas gunmen says they do not kidnap innocent people. The gunman tells the mayor of Miguel Aleman to drop the matter and threatens Chuy Hernandez by announcing Los Zetas’ plans to take over the region.
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 “J.L. Perez” and “A.C. Del Angel” from Tamaulipas.
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