Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros 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 Gulf cartel if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart’s Cartel Chronicles will be published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Reynosa’s “AC Del Angel.”
REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Mexico’s security strategy has led to insecurity as common crime has spiked sharply in the border city of Reynosa.
The new security strategy for Tamaulipas that was kicked off by Mexico’s Secretary of the Interior Miguel Angel Osorio Chong in May 2014, when applied to the city of Reynosa, brought about a series of changes in government offices by having military officials take over key offices that were previously controlled by organized crime. The frontal onslaught by the armed forces brought about the depletion of many of the sources of income used by local cartels.
Little by little the finances of the criminal organization (Gulf Cartel) have been depleted to the point where they cannot cover their enormous payroll made up by an army of lookouts, foot soldiers, and hitmen. This has caused a sharp rise in the number of regular crimes such as home robberies, express kidnappings, car thefts, and more recently bank robberies.
The disappearance of the local police and the arrival of a new certifiable state police which does not have as its priorities to guarantee the public’s safety has left a void that has been filled with impunity and illegality.
With a security strategy that continues to move forward but has yet to yield tangible results, the city of Reynosa continues to be vulnerable to an army of criminals looking for steep profits.
Chronology of recent bank robberies in Reynosa (Editor’s note: Breitbart Texas independently verified these incidents with Tamaulipas state officials):
-October 7, 2014 Banco Afirme, intersection of Boulevard Morelos y Saltillo in the Rodríguez neighborhood.
-October 13, 2014 Banco Serfin, intersection of Herón Ramírez y Tamaulipas, in the Rodríguez neighborhood.
-October 20, 2014 Banco Bancomer, Boulevard Hidalgo, Del Valle neighborhood.
-October 20, 2014 Banco Banamex, intersection of Boulevard Hidalgo and Práxedis Balboa, Hidalgo neighborhood.
-November 7, 2014 Banco Santander, Boulevard Hidalgo, Del Valle neighborhood.
-January 22, 2015 Banco Santander Boulevard Morelos.
– January 29, 2015 Banco Santander Boulevard Hidalgo, Del Valle neighborhood.
-February 6, 2015 Banco Banamex intersection of Boulevard Hidalgo y Práxedis Balboa, Hidalgo neighborhood.
-February 10, 2015 Banco Santander, Pedro J Méndez Avenue, Downtown area.
-February 12, 2015 Banco Afirme, Boulevard Hidalgo.
In the past, the cartel command controlled each person inside of their criminal organization, and no crime was committed without permission. The ongoing dismantling of the criminal organization known as the Gulf Cartel and their internal struggles have created a type of anarchy. Some cartel members act on their own, while others act with permission from their superiors to cover the moneys that they stopped receiving and cover their Narco-payroll.
Translation: Ildefonso Ortiz
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