The previous mayors in the border city of Matamoros used to pay up to $2 million a month in protection fees to Mexico’s Gulf Cartel, the current mayor said.
Upon taking office, Matamoros Mayor Leticia Salazar refused to pay any protection fees to the crime syndicate, Mexico’s Excelsior reported. The bombshell statements were delivered this week when Salazar visited the border city of Nuevo Laredo, where she spoke candidly and said the only reason she was still alive in Matamoros was “Thanks to God.”
According to Salazar her refusal to pay the protection fee has led to harsh criticism and a series of slanderous attacks by local news outlets.
“They come when we hit particular interests of those who have interests with the government and are part of organized crime,” Salazar is quoted by Excelsior. “We have taken back many areas and that has many uncomfortable, I knew this movie was ugly but did not know it was a horror movie, so much that the previous government would pay organized crime between 20 and 25 million pesos a month, the money came from the public works and towing fees, now we do not do that, that is why those people criticize us and do not want to see progress in the city.”
As reported by Breitbart Texas through the Cartel Chronicles, for years the Gulf Cartel has held the true editorial control of the news outlets in the area censoring stories about the out of control violence. Earlier this month, Mexican authorities captured one of the top leaders within the Gulf Cartel setting off a massive deployment of military might to prevent a rescue attempt—none of the local newspapers reported on the story.
Breitbart Texas previously reported on the murder of a Texas woman and her three brothers who were tied to the Gulf Cartel and killed as part of an ongoing dispute, however local news outlets have tried to blame Salazar claiming her security detail kidnapped and murdered the three individuals.
One of the former mayors of Matamoros named Erick Silva Santos is currently a fugitive of the Department of Justice after a money laundering investigation by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations resulted in a mutli-count indictment. The next day, as Breitbart Texas reported, Silva joined a growing list of Mexican politicians in claiming that the stories about their criminal activities, warrants, and investigations in the U.S. come as political maneuvers.