A Gulf Cartel lieutenant faces charges for his alleged role in a 2021 shootout that killed 14 innocent bystanders. The local organized crime boss was also accused of numerous kidnappings in various border cities in Tamaulipas.
During a court hearing inside a federal detention center in Coahuila, a Mexican federal judge formally charged Juan Miguel “Metro 56 or Miguelito” Lizardi Castro with one count of engaging in organized crime and ordered that he remain behind bars without bond on those charges. Lizardi is also facing state charges in Tamaulipas in connection with numerous kidnapping cases.
Gulf Cartel Commander Juan Miguel Lizardi Castro, aka Metro 56 or El Miguelito (Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)
According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, the federal charge against Lizardi is tied to a June 2021 shootout in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, where a group of gunmen from the Gulf Cartel entered the city and began shooting at innocent bystanders before clashing with a group of rival gunmen also from the Gulf Cartel.
In that particular incident, the gunmen killed 14 innocent victims while Tamaulipas state police forces rushed to fight off the gunmen and managed to kill four of them before they fled, Breitbart Texas reported at the time. That shootout was one of the many instances where Mexican federal and military forces did not take part in the clashes. Instead, they military left the fighting to Tamaulipas state police forces and simply arrived to provide perimeter control once the battle had ended.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported exclusively, state police forces arrested Lizardi last month during a raid where one of his gunmen slapped him and began to assault him after cops refused to take a bribe to let them escape. After his arrest, the state cops turned him over to federal prosecutors, who moved him to a federal detention center in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, where he is expected to stay awaiting his organized crime trial.
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.