GRAPHIC: Cartel Murders, Shootouts, Blockades Continue Plaguing Mexican Border States

Cartel gunmen continue carrying out targeted killings, engaging in shootouts, and setting up highway blockades with complete impunity. At the same time, government officials in the Mexican states of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon try to deny the violence, claiming it is all mass hysteria.

The latest violence took place in various parts of the state where rival factions of the Gulf Cartel continued a fierce turf war. On Sunday, a group of gunmen set up a series of roadblocks along the highway that connects the border city of Reynosa with Monterrey in the state of Nuevo Leon.

While various motorists shared videos and photos of the blockades on social media, warning others to stay away, government officials denied that such blockades took place.

The government lies were exposed on Monday as police patrols flooded the highway and then on Tuesday when a group of gunmen in four vehicles attacked a lone police vehicle with four officers. This started a large-scale shootout along the highway that connects the city of San Fernando with the central part of the state. Along that roadway, cartel gunmen torched tractor-trailers and set up blockades to keep additional police forces from arriving.

Also on Sunday, cartel gunmen carried out two separate targeted killings in the central part of the state. In the first killing, a group of gunmen shot and killed a yet unidentified teenager who was riding his motorcycle in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood of Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas. The gunmen were in an SUV and reportedly used an automatic rifle to kill their victim. No arrests have been made in the case.

The second killing took place in the town of Jimenez, also in the central part of Tamaulipas. In that case, the gunmen shot an as-yet unidentified victim in the head next to a dirt road.

The Tamaulipas government and military forces have been ineffective in stopping the violence and have simply been denying that most cases even took place.

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.