Mexican Border State Admits Cartel Planted Land Mines, Confirms Breitbart Report

The top security official in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas confirmed that drug cartels have been planting land mines along rural roads in the northern part of the state, confirming a prior news report from Breitbart Texas.

During a news conference this week, Sergio Hernando Chavez, the public security secretary for Tamaulipas, confirmed that cartel gunmen had planted multiple land mines in the northern part of the state. The public official claimed that the case was not terrorism because it was not an attack against the public but part of a fight between criminal organizations. The official also claimed the land mines were not targeting innocent civilians.

Breitbart Texas first reported exclusively last week on the appearance of land mines in Tamaulipas, where cartel gunmen had planted them along dirt roads near the cities of San Fernando and Rio Bravo. Initially, Tamaulipas spokesman Jorge Cuellar attempted to deny the case, claiming it was fake news. This week, Chavez confirmed the issue, claiming they had asked for help from Mexico’s Army, who subsequently disabled the devices.

The use of land mines by drug cartels in Tamaulipas comes as rival factions of the Gulf Cartel have been waging a fierce turf war for control of lucrative drug and human trafficking routes into Texas.

Despite efforts by Cuellar and Chavez to minimize the appearance of violence and claim that the region is safe, Gulf Cartel gunmen have been taking part in almost daily shootouts while using armored vehicles, convoys of gunmen, and several types of explosives. Government officials have not been counting the number of gunmen killed or abducted as a way to downplay the violence and claim to have low crime statistics despite the turf war.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.