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.
A police officer from the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas faces a murder charge for his role in the killing of an underage teenager he allegedly mistook for a gunman. He and five other officers are also charged with planting evidence to cover up the incident.
A group of Gulf Cartel gunmen set fire to a state police armored vehicle after a violent shootout just south of the Texas border. The gunmen outnumbered and outgunned a squad of police officers. The officers were forced to run away after military and federal police forces (National Guard) refused to answer their calls for help.
A former special forces police officer in the state of Tamaulipas switched sides and became a cell leader within the Gulf Cartel. Most recently, the cop turned drug lord was behind most of the violence in the central part of Tamaulipas, particularly in the cities of Jimenez, Abasolo, and Soto La Marina.
Mexican military forces clashed with Gulf Cartel gunmen in the border city of Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas. The clashes come after months of military forces avoiding direct conflict with gunmen. The shift in strategy comes after Gulf Cartel gunmen began using drones to drop explosive devices on rival gunmen and police forces in areas just south of the Texas border.
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.
A group of cartel gunmen kidnapped a Mexican border state senator and held him for hours, highlighting the control that criminal organizations continue to have in the state of Tamaulipas. The case details remain unknown, but relatives confirmed that the politician was home by Saturday morning. Unofficial information points to the gunmen releasing the politician, who made his way to a nearby house where he asked for help.
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.
Local college students ran for cover as cartel gunmen clashed with Tamaulipas state police forces near a university campus in the Mexican border city of Matamoros.
A gunman slapped and tried to beat up a top Gulf Cartel lieutenant, blaming him for his imminent capture after state authorities found them. Police found them, along with several other men, as they were drinking and smoking marijuana in a safehouse not far from the border with Texas.
A former border state governor in Mexico is lashing out at current authorities in Tamaulipas over their attempted coverup of a case where suspected cartel gunmen tried to take his son who was driving along a highway. The former governor claimed that the current state government has worked hand in hand with drug cartels, and the growing crime and lawlessness in the region is a reflection of that.
Authorities in Mexico arrested a top leader of the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The arrest comes as that criminal organization has been linked to numerous disappearances and mass killings with considerable impunity.
Authorities in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas have confirmed the discovery of two separate locations used by cartel gunmen to kill and incinerate the remains of their victims. Cartel crematoriums and clandestine gravesites have become almost commonplace in various parts of Mexico as criminal organizations try to avoid attention by not leaving bodies behind. The disposal of remains also allows government officials to hide the levels of violence by filing most cases as missing persons instead of murders or kidnappings.
Las autoridades del estado fronterizo de Tamaulipas confirmaron el descubrimiento de dos lugares utilizados por sicarios de los cárteles para matar e incinerar los restos de sus víctimas. Los crematorios de los cárteles y las fosas clandestinas se han vuelto algo común en varias partes de México, ya que las organizaciones criminales tratan de evitar la atención al no dejar cuerpos, algo que también permite a los funcionarios del gobierno ocultar los niveles de violencia al dar carpetazo a la mayoría de los casos como personas desaparecidas en lugar de asesinatos o secuestros.
Government officials in Mexico have been working to portray an image of peace in the border state of Tamaulipas by using doctored crime stats and making misleading statements to news outlets. In reality, several drug cartels have been waging fierce turf wars throughout the state. The violence rose exponentially in recent weeks as drug cartels have become more brazen.
Funcionarios gubernamentales en México han estado trabajando para presentar una imagen pacífica en el estado fronterizo de Tamaulipas falseando estadísticas del crimen y hacienda declaraciones engañosas a los medios de comunicación cuando en realidad, varios cárteles de la droga han estado peleando violentas guerras territoriales a lo largo del estado. La violencia se ha elevado de manera exponencial en semanas recientes y los cárteles de la droga se han vuelto más descarados.
Two top Los Zetas cartel commanders and nine of their gunmen received a 50-year prison sentence for their roles in the mass killing of over 120 victims in the border state of Tamaulipas. The victims were pulled off passenger buses, killed, and buried in shallow mass graves near the town of San Fernando.
Authorities in Mexico confirmed the disappearance of a U.S. citizen from Iowa who had been missing for several days after crossing the border. The disappearance comes at a time when government officials continue to claim that security conditions have been improving. However, criminal organizations like the Gulf Cartel can operate with almost complete impunity.
State police officers could not assist a group of fellow cops under fire during a series of large-scale deadly attacks by cartel gunmen because their vehicles did not have enough fuel.
Authorities in South Texas continue to investigate the theft of a red city ambulance that an unknown man stole during a call. The man drove the ambulance to Mexico where he abandoned it.
Una de las cadenas de tiendas de conveniencia más grandes de México ha cerrado todas sus sucursales en la ciudad fronteriza de Nuevo Laredo luego de una serie de amenazas de la organización terrorista Cártel del Noreste, facción de Los Zetas. El cierre masivo de casi 200 tiendas se produce en un momento en que el gobierno de Tamaulipas sigue siendo impotente contra los diversos cárteles de la droga que gobiernan el estado.
In yet another resounding example of the Mexican government’s inability to protect its citizens, a family in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, was forced to pay the Gulf Cartel approximately $40,000 USD for the release of their loved one. Government authorities could not help in the case, as relatives and activists were forced to plea to the dominant criminal organizations in the region to help.
En otro ejemplo contundente de la incapacidad del gobierno de México para proteger a sus ciudadanos, una familia en la ciudad fronteriza de Reynosa se vio obligada a pagar al Cártel del Golfo aproximadamente 40.000 dólares por la liberación de su ser querido. Las autoridades gubernamentales no pudieron ayudar en el caso, y los familiares y activistas se vieron obligados a pedir ayuda a las organizaciones criminales que gobiernan la región.
Activists in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, called on two drug cartels that control the region to help restore peace and end senseless kidnappings after government officials and authorities have been unable to do so. The call for help
Authorities in the border state of Tamaulipas are trying to downplay a series of kidnappings and cartel killings in the central part of the state. The violence comes as one faction of the Gulf Cartel makes a push to expand their territories into the central part of the state.
The U.S. Department of State issued a new travel alert about cartel gunmen kidnapping American passengers from buses traveling through the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The advisory comes even after Mexican border state officials dismissed a prior alert claiming the region has minimal crime statistics.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking for help in locating an Arizona teenage female and her mother who are believed to have been kidnapped while traveling in northern Mexico. The kidnapping is believed to have occurred along a stretch of highway where the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas has abducted dozens of innocent victims who have never been heard from again.
Mexican authorities arrested a former U.S. soldier who had allegedly been building explosives for the Gulf Cartel just south of the Texas border. The arrest had been kept largely under wraps as federal authorities built up the case against him,
Las autoridades mexicanas arrestaron a un exsoldado estadounidense que había estado fabricando explosivos para el Cartel del Golfo justo al sur de la frontera con Texas. El arresto se había mantenido en gran medida en secreto mientras las autoridades federales desarrollaban el caso en su contra y lo vinculaban a proceso; ya que se le acusa de fabricar minas y otros artefactos explosivos.
Mexican government officials publicly rejected a recent travel warning issued by the U.S. Department of State in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The warning advised U.S. citizens not to travel by bus, citing targeted kidnappings of American citizens and residents in the neighboring border city of Reynosa. Mexican officials continue to claim the border region is safe, even though the region is under the control of the Gulf Cartel and continues to go through a hyperviolent turf war.
The United States Consulate in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is sounding the alarm about the targeting of U.S. citizens, residents, and people with connections in the U.S. for ransom kidnappings while traveling on passenger buses.
A mayoral candidate in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, canceled her final campaign event after a recording artist headlining her event received a series of threats believed to come from the Gulf Cartel.
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.
A group of Tamaulipas state police officers chasing a suspect inadvertently crossed into Texas, setting off a brief standoff with U.S. authorities at an international port of entry in Brownsville.
Gulf Cartel gunmen ambushed a squad of police officers, killing two, in a Mexican border city that Tamaulipas government officials claim is safe. The killing comes after a full day of cartel blockades and shootouts that spread terror among locals.
A group of cartel gunmen in Mexico tried to kidnap a Univision reporter just south of the border with Texas. The gunmen intercepted the journalist and took his cell phones, but he managed to escape.
The Gulf Cartel instituted a tax against homeowners in the Mexican border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, for the right to have trees on their property. The government-protected criminal organization has a long history of being able to operate with complete impunity in that city.
El Cartel del Golfo ha comenzado a cobrar impuestos a los propietarios de viviendas en la ciudad fronteriza de Matamoros por el derecho a tener árboles en su propiedad. La organización criminal que goza de protección del gobierno tiene una larga historia de poder operar con total impunidad en esa ciudad.
Journalists grilled a Mexican presidential hopeful during her visit to the border state of Tamaulipas for campaigning alongside a cartel-connected former governor. The former governor has a pending arrest warrant from the U.S. Department of Justice on money laundering charges.
Mexico’s government continues to suppress information about the raging cartel violence that plagues one of its main border cities. The lack of information is further worsened by a gag order of sorts placed by organized crime on local news outlets in the city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
