Bloody ice chests containing what appeared to be human body parts, entrails, and scalps were left as an intimidation tactic at Mexican Border state polling places over the weekend. The gory scenes drew large police responses amid a gubernatorial election.
The incidents occurred throughout Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, where state authorities responded to calls of ice chests holding human remains near polling places. Days before, cartel gunmen in Reynosa, Tamaulipas, also scattered ice chests with human body parts.
At one polling location along Paseo del Acueducto Avenue, authorities found an ice chest containing bloody matter and a scalp. Next to the chest, authorities collected a threatening message. Detectives in Nuevo Leon told Breitbart Texas the chests did not contain human body parts, but instead were meat products and a wig meant to mimic a common cartel intimidation practice.
At two other locations, authorities found a severed pig head and other bloody pieces of meat inside a chest. Authorities in Nuevo Leon also confirmed to Breitbart Texas a report of six gunmen vandalizing a polling location in the Pedregal de La Silla neighborhood. The gunmen also threatened voters. It is unclear if they physically tampered with any ballot materials.
Samuel Garcia, the candidate from Movimiento Ciudadano, claimed victory with unofficial results giving him a 10 percent advantage over other candidates. One of the surprises of the election was the poor performance of Clara Luz Flores, from the MORENA party, who was at one point expected to win but ended in fourth place. MORENA is the ruling party in Mexico founded by current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
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.
Gerald “Tony” Aranda is an international journalist with more than 20 years of experience working in high-risk areas for print and broadcast news outlets investigating organized crime, corruption, and drug trafficking in the U.S. and Mexico. In 2016, Gerald took up the pseudonym of “Tony” when he joined Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project. Since then, he has come out of the shadows and become a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.