A group of activists who search for mass graves and missing persons reported the discovery of two cartel incineration sites in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, just south of McAllen, Texas. This marks the 19th discovery of human remains by activists in that city alone this year.
The find happened this weekend, when members of the Amor Por Los Desaparecidos group carried out a search at the city’s southwestern side, not far from the highway that connects Reynosa with Monterrey. After the group arrived, they immediately discovered human remains and items that had been used by criminal organizations to dispose of the bodies of their victims. The gunmen had used tire shavings, wood, bricks, and drums to incinerate the remains of their victims. At the site, the group also found numerous items of clothing believed to belong to the victims incinerated by the gunmen. The group has carried out 52 searches this year, with 19 of those tuning up mass graves, lone gravesites, or incineration sites in Reynosa.
The city of Reynosa remains under the control of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal organization that has been labeled as a terrorist group by the U.S. government. Despite the designation, Mexico’s federal government has done little to eradicate them, limiting its efforts to a few random seizures and arrests of mid-level and low-level members. On the political side, Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, continues to claim that crime is constantly decreasing under her administration. Most recently, she touted more than a 40 percent decrease in murders. However, the claims do not match the reality that her citizens live under.
As Breitbart Texas reported, a week ago, a group of Gulf Cartel gunmen carried out a brazen daytime murder where they killed an innocent man along Boulevard Hidalgo, one of the main avenues in the city. In that same attack, the gunmen killed an innocent young woman who was making her way to school.
Just days later, a group of Gulf Cartel gunmen ambushed a group of state police officers, killing two of them in a brazen attack. Law enforcement sources consulted by Breitbart Texas revealed that the Gulf Cartel had a leak that helped them set up the attack at a time when the officers were not carrying rifles due to an internal investigation. Since the attack, no arrests have been made in the case.
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.