Authorities and human rights activists found another cartel-connected killing field located just south of the Texas-Mexico border. Cartel gunmen are believed to have incinerated an unknown number of victims. The discovery of the killing field and several clandestine mass graves come at a time when Tamaulipas government officials publicly claim that crime is down under their watch.
Late last week, a group from the Amor Por Los Desaparecidos search party found a series of incinerated human remains in a rural community south of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The searchers found what appeared to be several burn sites with charred fragments of human remains on the floor. The cartel killing field is off a rural road called La Retama near the highway that connects Reynosa and San Fernando.
The site is believed to have been used by the Gulf Cartel to dispose of the bodies of their victims. It is unknown how many bodies were incinerated in that area. However, as Breitbart Texas reported, in prior years, the Gulf Cartel has had several clandestine crematoriums in operation, some even inside homes in populated areas.
In addition to the cartel killing field, search parties have found at least three other clandestine gravesites in recent weeks in various parts of the city.
The discovery of cartel killing-fields and clandestine gravesites comes at a time when Mexican officials and authorities claim that crime is decreasing, even though Reynosa is ground zero for a fierce cartel turf war that began in late April.
La Guardia Estatal mantienen vigilancia permanente en los 43 municipios de Tamaulipas.
El propósito es preservar la seguridad y dar una respuesta inmediata a emergencias.
La SSPT reitera a la ciudadanía la disposición del 911 como línea oficial de emergencias. pic.twitter.com/hS3acrkUeq
— Seguridad Pública (@SSP_GobTam) August 25, 2023
In 2016, Breitbart Texas reported on a similar cartel killing field in the border city of Matamoros, where Gulf Cartel gunmen incinerated a large number of victims. At the time, the Tamaulipas government tried to cover up the case and claimed they could not tell if the bone fragments were human or animal. By 2021, government officials confirmed that the remains were human, but the number of victims killed and disposed of remains unknown.
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.