Mexican authorities are bracing for more border violence in the coming days as rival cartels fight for lucrative smuggling routes. In recent weeks, cartel gunmen killed more than 15 innocent victims and a dozen rivals.
The most violent shootout took place Tuesday morning when gunmen from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas rolled into Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas, and clashed with members of the Gulf Cartel. While the shootout took place under cover of darkness, by daylight residents reported the discovery of nine bodies strewn along a highway leading into the city.
According to local residents, the shooting went on for more than an hour without any interference despite a Mexican Army building less than two miles away from the scene. The lack of military involvement comes as residents and state officials claim Mexican federal authorities are not clashing with gunmen.
Miguel Aleman is controlled by the Metros faction of the Gulf Cartel. Their territories expand east to the border city of Reynosa. The Metros are currently fighting on two fronts with the CDN-Los Zetas pushing from the west, while another faction of the Gulf Cartel from Matamoros is encroaching from the east.
On June 19, Gulf Cartel gunmen from the Matamoros faction rolled into Reynosa and killed 15 innocent victims. Military forces and federal authorities did not respond until after the shooting. State police officers to intervene with force.
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.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.