Cartel Gunmen Fire Into Mexican Border State Government Office

Editor’s note: this article was updated to reflect that the targeted building houses offices for the Tamaulipas government, not the governor.

A group of cartel gunmen fired several rounds into the building that houses offices for the Tamaulipas government. The attack comes days after state authorities, without help from Mexico’s federal government, began cracking down on a faction of Los Zetas in Nuevo Laredo, called Cartel Del Noreste (CDN).

The shooting took place Sunday when gunmen pulled up to the main entrance of the Bicentennial Tower and began firing machine guns. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Tamaulipas government, the shooting occurred prior to normal business hours. The shots fired broke a few windows and caused some cosmetic damage, authorities revealed. Investigators are working to identify the perpetrators.

The terrorist-style attack comes days after Tamaulipas authorities carried out several operations in Nuevo Laredo to stop the escalating violence from the CDN. As a result, authorities and Los Zetas clashed where over a dozen gunmen and a few police officers have died. Los Zetas-CDN is using armored trucks with mounted machine guns, .50 caliber rifles, grenade launchers, and RPGs, while police only have access to their duty rifles and handguns. Mexico’s military and federal police have largely stayed out of the fighting, leading Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Cabeza de Vaca to publicly criticize their inaction against cartels.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.