An extortion crew based in a Mexico City prison passed themselves off as members of a cartel and targeted individuals in the border state of Tamaulipas.
This week, agents with the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office (FGJE), along with counterparts in Mexico City arrested three women and one man. According to the FGJE, the group operated out of the Santa Martha Acatitla prison. It remains unclear if they were inmates or employees.
According to Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios,, the group is linked to several extortions. Unconfirmed information points to the victims being based out of the Tampico metropolitan area.
According to authorities, the group passed themselves off as members of a cartel and in one case in January, were able to extort $3 million pesos from a victim.
The Gulf Cartel and the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas have long histories of extorting businesses and innocents on their turf. Those cartels are feared throughout Tamaulipas, making them a useful tool for copycats.
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.
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