A group of Gulf Cartel gunmen threw a grenade outside of a school in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, to distract authorities while one of their commanders tried to escape. The tactic failed, and authorities apprehended the local crime boss. The terror-style violence comes as Mexican authorities continue claiming the cartel-controlled border state of Tamaulipas is safe.
The incident took place on Thursday afternoon in Matamoros, where authorities were forced to evacuate a high school in the Culturas neighborhood after gunmen threw a grenade nearby. State police and military forces rushed to the scene to create a security perimeter and then moved to evacuate approximately 400 students from the school. Military forces eventually moved in to remove the unexploded grenade. Authorities later claimed that the grenade was a replica.
The call about the grenade came while authorities were chasing down a group of gunmen on the opposite side of town — something that points to the grenade being an attempt to divert law enforcement response.
The chase took place near the city’s downtown area, near the intersection of Gonzalez and Morelos Streets, where the gunmen got out of their vehicles and tried to hide in public. The pursuit appears to have been an attempt to capture a leading figure within the Escorpiones faction of the Gulf Cartel.
After a brief manhunt by federal and state authorities, authorities captured Diego “Yeyo” or “Escorpion 70” Salas, a regional leader in charge of all operations in Rio Bravo.
The capture comes at a time when Escorpiones have been waging a fierce turf war with another Gulf Cartel faction called Los Metros that is based in Reynosa. For over a year, both factions have terrorized the border region as they fight for control of trafficking routes into Texas.
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 “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.