EXCLUSIVE GRAPHIC PHOTOS: Cartel Turf Fight Turns Mexican City into War Zone
A fierce turf war between rival factions of the Gulf Cartel turned one of the main cities in Tamaulipas into a war zone. Convoys of gunmen in armored vehicles clashed while Mexican authorities continue their claim that the state is safe and that violence in a myth spread through social media.
Since late last month, two rival factions of the Gulf Cartel have been engaged in a fierce turf war. The faction in Reynosa known as Los Metros joined forces with the Old School Zetas (Vieja Escuela) based in San Fernando. The faction also allegedly has the support of Cartel Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) in their fight against the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel known as the Escorpiones.
The city of San Fernando, called Sierra Fox by gunmen, experienced the worst fighting so far as gunmen riding in armored SUVs in convoys — at times larger than 40 vehicles — roam dirt roads and the main highways searching for rivals. When these convoys encounter each other, the fighting is intense as these gunmen carry high-powered weapons and explosives that they use trying to defeat each other’s armored vehicles.
Soon after the fighting began to make headlines, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed he was sending more than 700 soldiers to the region. Since then, Mexican state and federal authorities have done little to stop these shootouts and have been responding to the scenes of the shootouts hours after the fighting has ended. At times, authorities don’t even respond to the scenes of the shootouts leaving torched armored trucks behind. Oftentimes, the only evidence of the shootout are cell phone videos recorded by gunmen where they brag about having defeated their rivals, or videos of gunmen being interrogated by rivals.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the 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 their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales”, “J.C. Sanchez” and “C.P. Mireles” from Tamaulipas.
