Approximately 30 gunmen in military clothing stormed the Tamaulipas State Prosecutor’s Office in Reynosa and rescued a top commander with the Gulf Cartel on Tuesday. Some gunmen wore Mexican military identifications. Authorities are investigating the legitimacy of the documents.
The brazen rescue took place on Tuesday evening at the Tamaulipas State Prosecutor’s Office (FGJ) in Reynosa. Gunmen arrived in SUVs and rescued Jose Alfredo “Metro 27” Hernandez Campos, the regional commander in charge of the Gulf Cartel in the towns of Diaz Ordaz and Valadeces, just south of La Joya and Sullivan City, Texas. The region under his control has gained value in 2021 since it is used to smuggle massive volumes of migrants with minimal effort.
During the rescue, Gulf Cartel forces set up large blockades throughout the city to slow down law enforcement coming to intervene. Authorities began a manhunt to capture the fugitive cartel lord and clashed with gunmen in several shootouts. In one skirmish, police managed to kill a gunman wearing a military-style uniform. In a second engagement, a gunman was caught carrying Mexican Army IDs.
While Hernandez Campos appears young in age for his rank, law enforcement sources say that he was mentored by “old school” leaders and was able to maintain a low profile in his formative period.
There are conflicting claims about the date and location of the young drug lord’s initial arrest. The Tamaulipas government revealed in a prepared statement that a special operations group arrested Metro 27 on Monday in his area of operation. However, intelligence shared with Breitbart Texas by U.S. law enforcement sources operating in Mexico note the collar happened over the weekend in a Reynosa bar. The suspect was unarmed and did not have any bodyguards.
The law enforcement sources also say that arresting officers tried to extort $150,000 USD from Hernandez Campos. He reportedly declined the offer, saying he was already paying protection money to Mexico’s National Guard and Army, the law enforcement source revealed. After the refusal and unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a “release fee,” police took him into custody and presented him to the FGJ on Monday.
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 “Francisco Morales” from Tamaulipas.
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