The Gulf Cartel silenced local news outlets in the border city of Matamoros, telling reporters the murder of one of its longtime lieutenants would trigger violent consequences if made public.
Hundreds of people gathered for his funeral and held a large-scale celebration; however, under orders of the criminal organization, the entire episode went unaccounted for by local media.
The circumstances surrounding the torture and slaying remain unclear. However, what is known is that on October 6, Tamaulipas state authorities responded to a call about foul smells emanating from a sand-colored 2004 Lincoln Navigator that had been left running near a local cemetery on the northwest side of the city.
When authorities arrived, they found a body inside the vehicle. The victim was covered in bruises, had been strangled, and had been left in the driver’s seat. The victim was later identified as 45-year-old Gumercindo “El Gume” Perez Maya, a longtime mid-level boss within the Gulf Cartel.
At the time that authorities responded to the cemetery, local reporters in Matamoros received a notification via a messaging app to avoid the area and report nothing about the killing or face dire consequences. The message came from a fellow journalist in Matamoros who acts as a liaison between the Gulf Cartel and reporters, telling them what they can and cannot cover.
The bruised back of Gulf Cartel Lieutenant El Gume shortly after his body was discovered. (Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)
The secrecy tied to El Gume having been killed by his own people within the Gulf Cartel came following a perceived betrayal. The drug boss’s funeral was a lavish event with several musical acts, food trucks, and police escorts.
A source with direct knowledge of criminal activities in Matamoros revealed that El Gume had semi-retired and had been warned not to return to Matamoros — instructions that he did not follow.
The warning appears to have come before his most recent arrest in December 2023, where he allegedly had a dispute over money with fellow lieutenants that forced him to flee. His flight came as the two dominant factions of the Gulf Cartel in Matamoros, the Escorpiones and Ciclones, had been at odds, and tensions had been rising over the direction of the leadership within the organization.
The tensions add to the already violent border region where the Matamoros factions have been waging a fierce turf war with the Metros faction from Reynosa and their allies for over a year. The ongoing violence has spread terror through the region as convoys of gunmen clash along rural dirt roads on a constant basis.
Known for his levelheaded demeanor, El Gume was well-liked in Matamoros and Rio Bravo, where he was in charge of human smuggling operations and getting stolen SUVs for the cartel. In July 2023, El Gume was involved in a scandal when individuals within the Gulf Cartel leaked an audio recording of him ordering his underlings to steal vehicles for the criminal organization. In the audio, he claimed that he had pressure from the top and was trying to be reasonable, but he needed the number of vehicles to increase, or he would retaliate. The leak sparked much controversy within the cartel as accusations ran wild about traitors and informants working with U.S. authorities.
While he had been arrested several times in the past, El Gume had managed to bribe his way out of any real consequences, with most of his cases simply disappearing or being dismissed from Mexican courts.
In the days after his killing, Perez Maya’s relatives posted on social media a short death notice with the drug boss’s picture, making that one of the only published details confirming his death.
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.