Government officials in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas are trying to cover up a large explosion that leveled several homes. Officials claim a gas leak caused the explosion. The explosion reportedly happened in a cartel stash house where they kept weapons and improvised explosive devices.
The incident occurred early Friday morning when a house in the Los Fresnos neighborhood in Valle Hermoso, Tamaulipas, exploded. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and rescued more than 30 families as firefighters and authorities investigated the blast. Authorities revealed that the explosion leveled several homes.
The Tamaulipas government sent out a statement confirming the blast but made no mention of the cartel’s presence nor the use of explosive devices.
The Tamaulipas Civil Protection Coordinator, Luis Gerardo Gonzalez de La Fuente, told local news outlets that the explosion was caused by the accumulation of gas.
However, a search of the blast area led authorities to several containers believed to have been repurposed as IEDs. Authorities also found tactical gear that had been stored in the house that caused the explosion.
Law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas that the containers used as IEDs had residue of plastic explosives, possibly C-4 or some similar material.
The explosion comes weeks after Breitbart Texas reported the Gulf Cartel had begun placing land mines along rural dirt roads as a way to keep their rivals out. Government officials initially tried to deny the issue but were forced to confirm the reporting. Officials tried to downplay the issue by claiming that the explosives were only used by cartels to fight each other and not used against civilians.
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.C. Sanchez” and “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.