Dozens of residents in the cartel-controlled city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, took a high risk by holding a protest, blocking one of the area’s main avenues, and asking to be able to live in peace. The protest follows an attack by gunmen from the Gulf Cartel that led to the murder of two innocent citizens with complete impunity, while the Tamaulipas government claims that the state is one of the safest in the nation.
This week, residents in Reynosa held hands as they blocked Hidalgo Boulevard, one of the city’s main arteries, demanding peace. The peaceful protest lasted for a short while as passing motorists honked and cheered in support. The move came just one day after a group of gunmen with the Gulf Cartel shot and killed two victims in a brazen daytime attack.
Cartel Chronicles
The attack also took place along Boulevard Hidalgo when the gunmen pulled up next to a motorist and began shooting. The male victim got down and tried to run away, but died in a hail of bullets. The gunmen were able to drive off with complete impunity. Some of those bullets also struck a young teen girl who was on her way to school. Her parents tried to rush her to a local hospital, but the girl died soon after.
Preliminary information points to the gunmen having killed the male motorist for having tried to sell a vehicle without paying a fee or tax to the criminal organization. Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the reign of terror spread by the Gulf Cartel, where the criminal organization collects extortion fees from average citizens for most business endeavors.
The shootings sparked much outrage within the city, where residents began pressuring the local mayor and dared to become widely outspoken about the poor security conditions in the region.
By Friday evening, after much pressure from various protests and local news outlets, the Tamaulipas government issued a prepared statement claiming that they had arrested seven individuals in connection with the shooting. As with other cases in the past, the arrests focus on low-level gunmen, with government officials rarely targeting the leadership of the top Gulf Cartel, who are the ones that impose the extortion fees and have the protection of top-level government officials.
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.