REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — More than 400 Mexican soldiers have been deployed to this border city as part of an ongoing security strategy aimed at targeting various Gulf Cartel cells in the region.
Approximately 417 soldiers departed from the Mexican state of Chiapas on three military airplanes, Reynosa’s El Mañana reported. The soldiers are from the 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment; their deployment comes just weeks after 500 soldiers were sent to Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas. The new deployment of soldiers occured days after Tamaulipas’s Governor Francisco Cabeza de Vaca announced a new security strategy for Reynosa.
As Breitbart Texas has been reporting, the Mexican Marines have been carrying out multiple early morning raids at various stash houses used by the Gulf Cartel in this city. The raids resulted in multiple firefights as cartel members try to delay authorities while key commanders flee. In response to the clashes, military forces have deployed helicopters with machine and mini-guns to root out opposing shooters.
The mounting pressure forced Gulf Cartel’s regional boss, Julian “Comandante Toro” Loiza Salinas aka Juan Manuel Loiza Salinas, into hiding. While his commanders continue to operate in Reynosa, Loiza Salinas allegedly sought temporary refuge in Texas.
During the raids, cartel gunmen have been setting up roadblocks and throwing hundreds of makeshift road spikes designed to rapidly deflate tires. The tactic is also done to flatten the tires of regular motorists, causing traffic jams.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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