Cartel gunmen brought a Mexican border city to a halt as they set up roadblocks, torched vehicles, burned tires, and fired weapons into the air as a way to stop traffic. The chaos came after military forces arrested a top enforcer for the Gulf Cartel.
The violence began early Sunday morning in Matamoros when military forces arrested four members of the Gulf Cartel, including a commander named Victor Hugo “Chaparro” Tellez Candon. According to Mexican law enforcement sources, Comandante Chaparro was tasked with security for the family of jailed boss Alfredo “El Contador” Cardenas.
It remains unclear if the response by the Gulf Cartel came from the arrest of El Chaparro or if military forces managed to get too close to the Cardenas family and the blockades were created to provide cover for their escape.
During the blockades, gunmen were able to hijack buses and tractor-trailers to park them across main avenues. Residents took to social media to warn each other and most sheltered in place out of fear of a large-scale gun battle.
However, the city did not experience any major shootouts.
Tensions in the city have been high following an apparent split between rival factions of the Gulf Cartel after months of relative peace.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the 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.A. Espinoza” and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.