GRAPHIC: Mexican Army Kills 9 Gulf Cartel Gunmen in Border State Raids

Mexican military forces killed nine Gulf Cartel gunmen during a series of confrontations in the northern part of the border state of Tamaulipas.

The large-scale shootouts come at a time when rival factions of the Gulf Cartel have been waging a fierce turf war for control of lucrative drug and human smuggling routes in the northern part of Tamaulipas — particularly around the border city of Reynosa.

The raids began late last week when members of Mexico’s Army began tracking down cartel camps near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, and various rural communities such as Cruillas, Burgos, Mendez, and others closer to the Gulf of Mexico. Those areas have become highly relevant as rival factions of the Gulf Cartel gegan fighting for control of them in late April.

During raids on Thursday, military forces managed to seize various vehicles. On Friday, authorities raided some areas near the rural community of La Loma, Tamaulipas, where they found three armored vehicles and two other trucks. Soon after that raid, authorities received information about a group of gunmen stationed at a makeshift narco-camp in La Loma and moved to that location. As the military forces arrived at the camp, gunmen began shooting at them. The military forces fought back, killing nine gunmen and forcing the rest to flee.

In the aftermath of that shootout, authorities seized three trucks, weapons, and body armor with the letters CDG (Gulf Cartel) and the Roman numerals XIX, which is used by the group led by Jose Alberto “La Kena or Ciclon 19” Garcia Vilano, who is the current leader of the Matamoros faction. As Breitbart Texas reported, La Kena’s group went to war with the Reynosa faction of the Gulf Cartel, known as Los Metros, over their connections to Cartel Jalisco New Generation.

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 their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales” and “J. C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.