A Mexican border state official actively worked with the Gulf Cartel to lure a group of businessmen to a local restaurant where gunmen from the Gulf Cartel then threatened them and extorted them. The businessmen provide food-vendor services to various international manufacturing companies operating in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
The incident took place earlier this month when Luis Miguel Iglesias Elizondo, a former state official, called the various members of the Reynosa Industrial Food Vendors Union to a meeting at a local restaurant called Estrella. The official claimed that they would be getting government aid and supplies, a report from Mexican journalist Salvador Garcia Soto revealed. Once the businessmen arrived, individuals claiming to be with the Gulf Cartel told them they would have to pay certain extortion fees.
The former government official Luis Miguel Iglesias Elizondo is currently a regional campaign coordinator in Tamaulipas for Morena’s presidential candidate Claudia Sheinbaum and has worked in the past with Tamaulipas governor Americo Villarreal.
Juliana Aldret Gonzalez, one of the leaders of the business group, has gone into hiding and went public with the claims about the cartel’s extortion and threats.
The woman claimed that 17 members of the food vendors union went to the meeting under the idea that they would be getting government grants or contracts. Once there, a group of gunmen arrived, taking their cell phones and purses.
A man identified as Raul “L3 or El Licenciado” Salinas told the businessmen that they had to pay six million pesos (approximately $350,000USD) on the spot and that the cartel would be collecting five pesos (.30USD) per plate that the vendors would serve at the various international manufacturing plants they work with, the report revealed. The man told them they controlled the city and had the power to carry out the threats.
The cartel spokesman threatened to kidnap and dismember each of the 17 businessmen and then target their families.
As Breitbart Texas reported, in cities like Matamoros, government officials have been working closely with the Gulf Cartel to extort local businessmen to collect additional money. The criminal organization has a long history of taxing locals and recently made headlines for taxing homeowners for the right to have trees on their properties.
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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