EXCLUSIVE: Gulf Cartel’s Propaganda Machine — Exposed

The Gulf Cartel restarted a propaganda campaign aimed at trying to pressure Mexico’s government into backing off from enforcement operations. As part of this campaign, the criminal organization has been hiding behind women and children, forcing them to go to planned protests while corrupt news outlets and social media pages promote a coordinated effort claiming police brutality against innocent people.

This week, the Gulf Cartel held a protest at the municipal building in the city of Camargo. The cartel organizers had women and children lead the small protest, and they demanded that authorities leave the area. Camargo is directly south of Rio Grande City and is a well-known drug and human smuggling corridor run by the Gulf Cartel.

During the protest, Gulf Cartel members hid behind women and children to kick down the door to the building and try to set fire to the building.

One day before the protest, Tamaulipas state police seized poster boards and envelopes of cash meant to pay for the protest in Camargo. Despite the seizure, the protest went on as planned.

The protests come at a time when the Gulf Cartel has seen a reduction in profits due to the United States increasing its border security measures. The added measures have made it more difficult for the cartel to move drugs and migrants north. Additionally, the U.S. government has pressured Mexico into acting against the Gulf Cartel and others.

Cartel Propaganda

Breitbart Texas obtained exclusive photographs and information revealing that Gulf Cartel members met with and directed a local journalist who runs various social media pages, instructing him to cover the protests and to push the narrative of police abuses.

The journalist is Juan Jose Mejorado Gomez; Breitbart News Foundation confirmed this with Mexican federal security forces. In his outlets, Mejorado Gomez pushed stories about police abuses as a way to pressure Mexico’s government to back off.

The strategy has worked for criminal organizations in the past. One of the most famous cases involved Raymundo Ramos, who coordinated the propaganda wing of the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas while masquerading as a human rights activist. For years, Ramos crafted false narratives of police abuse and garnered the attention of international news outlets.

Breitbart Texas spent years exposing Ramos while various international news outlets defended him and amplified his claims. However, in April, the U.S. Department of the Treasury openly designated Ramos as a member of Los Zetas, confirming Breitbart Texas’s reporting.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s 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 News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

“J.C. Del Angel” from Tamaulipas contributed to this report.

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