MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — Business leaders in this border city have once again sounded the alarm about highway travel after a recent increase in robberies, carjackings and kidnappings.
The alert points to the recent increase in criminal activity that targets innocent tourists, commuters and others using the various highways in this state that lead to the border, said Cristian Perez Cossio, the local director for the National Chamber of Commerce in Matamoros (CANACO) said during an interview with Breitbart Texas.
“Traveling from the border to the state capital has become a joke due to the constant robberies and even kidnappings,” Perez Cossio said. “These situations are sometimes not reported due to the lack of trust in Mexican authorities and the pressure by criminals who threaten people into remaining silent.”
The businessman said that travelers have been reporting a complete lack of patrolling and vigilance by Mexican authorities. In the past, Mexican federal police and military forces would patrol the highways in an effort to dissuade cartel members from establishing roadblocks. The reported lack of security has allowed criminals to once again set up traffic control points and take over the roads.
“The CANACO is calling on Mexico’s Federal Government, Secretary of the Interior, Military and Federal Police authorities and the Tamaulipas government to re-evaluate the security conditions along the highways which have become un-drivable”, Perez Cossio said.
“As a leading entity that fosters commerce and tourism, we have sent an alert for highway users that driver their own vehicles, travel by bus or drive a tractor trailer to take additional precautions, since it is extremely dangerous to travel at night,” he said.
In recent days, cartel gunmen managed to rob three passenger buses. The lack of transparency by government officials with regard to the case has made it difficult to confirm the rumors of victims being kidnapped from the buses. The buses had been traveling form the border city of Reynosa to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon.
As a result of the concerns voiced by local citizens, Francisco Garza de Coss, a local state congressman in Tamaulipas demanded answers from the state and federal government.
“Right now there is panic among those that travel along the highways of Tamaulipas,” Garza de Coss said in an interview with Breitbart Texas. “This situation affects us and the authorities have to answer for this.”
According to the local congressman, the uncertainty at the lack of information and action by the government has caused great harm. Travelers are afraid to drive to Monterrey due to the lack of security.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” from Matamoros.
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