The border city of Matamoros quietly removed one of its top officials one day after Breitbart Texas published an exclusive about his history as an enforcer for the Gulf Cartel while serving as a Tamaulipas police officer.
On Tuesday afternoon, officials announced Alejandro Barquin Bucio as the new deputy director for Civil Protection in Matamoros. He replaces Pedro “El Polaris” Hernandez Quiroga. Breitbart Texas revealed exclusively that in 2010, El Polaris was a team leader with the Tamaulipas Ministerial Police while also acting as a Gulf Cartel cell leader in the city of Tampico. At the time, federal police arrested him with weapons and grenades.
Despite a criminal conviction and time spent behind bars, Hernandez Quiroga went on to become the deputy director for Civil Protection in Matamoros under Mayor Mario “La Borrega” Lopez. Hernandez Quiroga and some of his staff came under scrutiny in recent days after Gulf Cartel gunmen used an ambulance to move four kidnapped U.S. citizens, two of which died.
On March 3, Latavia McGee, Shaeed Woodward, Zindell Brown, and Eric James Williams crossed into Matamoros for cosmetic surgery, but a team of Gulf Cartel gunmen chased, shot at, and kidnapped them. While the group was in Gulf Cartel custody, gunmen used an ambulance to move them to a clinic used by the cartel to treat their wounded.
Mexican authorities have been working to hunt down the local boss of the Gulf Cartel, Jose Alberto “La Kena” Garcia Vilano. They are also taking a close look at the actions of the Civil Protection department and how the cartel had access to EMS resources.
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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