REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — At least 12 individuals have been killed this week in an ongoing cartel war for control of this city. In the most recent day of violence, authorities confirmed the death of five individuals in two separate attacks.
As Breitbart Texas has been reporting, since Tuesday night, rival factions of the Gulf Cartel went to war for control of this city. The fighting has led to convoys of gunmen roaming the streets actively searching for rivals. The raging violence has led to a virtual shutdown of the city where most residents have been avoiding the streets after dark.
On Thursday afternoon, the Tamaulipas government confirmed in a prepared statement that 12 individuals were killed during the fighting that began on Tuesday night. Additionally, on Thursday, authorities confirmed the death of five in two separate attacks. As part of the enforcement operations, authorities seized machine guns, grenades, and various vehicles.
One of the attacks took place at a local shopping plaza along Boulevard Hidalgo, one of the city’s main avenues. In that attack, two men died in the parking lot of the shopping center. One of the men killed was a cartel gunman, while it remains unclear if a young man who also died was part of the gun battle or if he was an innocent bystander. A citizen journalist inside the shopping center took video of the fear and chaos that spread as shoppers were forced to run for cover inside the store.
The fighting for control of the city comes after Mexican authorities killed the Gulf Cartel’s top regional boss, Juan Manuel Loiza Salinas, the man more commonly known as Comandante Toro or Metro-42. In the days after his death, Toro’s gunmen have faced off against other commanders who are seeking to take control of the region. As a response to the ongoing violence, officials have once again started using social media as a way to alert citizens about violence in specific neighborhoods.
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 “A.C. Del Angel” from Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.