by Itzli for Borderland Beat
Introduction
Tamaulipas
Veracruz
For quite some
time, the divisions within the Gulf Cartel (often abbreviated as CDG)
have been quite obvious. During one of the first internal conflicts
that ravaged the organization, reports spread and many became aware of
the two main sides: Metros and Rojos. As things relatively calmed down,
the flow of information became scarce, leaving many confused anytime
fighting occurred.
For those that followed more
closely, a much more complicated picture emerged as the CDG splintered
into various factions and sub-factions. The website Valor por Tamaulipas
and its companion Facebook page offered a glimpse as to what was
happening, though it would prove a tangled web. I, among others, worked
to understand what was happening in the shadows, often resorting to
analyzing the most minuet pieces of information.
It
was something as simple as a map would eventually spur the writing of
this report.
Valor por Tamaulipas had color coded the state of
Tamaulipas into areas of control a while back ago. More recently, they
posted a revised version of this map, on which I noticed a brief note
about additional areas of control. Around that same time, while I was
looking through old notes, a passing reference to a plaza chief sparked
my interest, leading me to research as much as I could. This is what I
found... (Click on image to enlarge)
Tamaulipas
The state of
Tamaulipas is the birthplace of the CDG and many of its factions. Among
the factions is the CDG del Sur, which literally means the Gulf Cartel
of the South. Thus, it should be of no surprise that the CDG del Sur is
found within the southern part of the state of Tamaulipas.
The
bastion of the this faction is the Tampico metropolitan area, which in
Tamaulipas is composed of the municipalities of Tampico (#38 in the
above map), Ciudad Madero (#9 in the above map), and Altamira (#3 in the
above map).
While Tampico and Ciudad Madero are urban, Altamira is a
mixed municipality, urban in the southeast, but stretching out into
rural areas. It appears that part of this rural area is considered a
separate plaza, Campos de Ordeña, under which the towns of Cuauhtémoc
and Esteros fall. The Tampico metropolitan area is fertile grounds for
the CDG del Sur: its ports allow the importation of cocaine, its urban
areas open the door for retail drug sales, kidnappings, and extortions,
and its rural areas are rich in gas and oil thefts as well as
involvement in migrant smuggling.
Just west of
Altamira is the CDG del Sur controlled municipality of González (#12 in
the above map). ;A sparsely populated municipality, it appears from a
map that the most strategic town is Estacíon Manuel, which is located
along highway 80 and is intersected by highways 39 and 180.Based upon
the Valor por Tamualipas map, it appears the municipality is divided
into two plazas (González and Graciano Sánchez/Magiscatzin) and has a
base of vehicle robberies in the south and training camps in the
mountains in the northeast. Further west is the Zeta controlled
territory of Mante (#21 in the above map), and it appears that Graciano
Sánchez is part of a strategic buffer zone between the CDG del Sur and
Los Zetas.
Northeast of González and directly north of
Altamira is the CDG del Sur controlled municipality of Aldama (#2 in
the above map). Even more sparsely populated than González, the
municipality appears to be divided into four plazas: the town of Aldama,
along highway 180, the town of La Muralla, located further north along
highway 180, Barra del Morrón along the southern coast, and Barra del
Tordo in the central coast.
Directly north of Aldama
is another sparsely populated municipality, Soto la Marina (#37 in the
above map), with the town of the same name located along highway 180.
Soto la Marina appears important in a number of ways. Highway 180
continues north into the municipality of San Fernando (#35 in the above
map), which is partially controlled by the CDG faction of Matamoros,
thus it is likely the final staging ground of any drugs being turned
over to Matamoros (#22 in the above map). To the west is the Zeta
territory, therefore highways 70 and 75, which connect into the town of
Soto la Marina, would likely be strategically controlled by the CDG del
Sur.
Northeast of Soto la Marina is the final
municipality in Tamaulipas controlled by the CDG del Sur, Abasolo (#1 in
the above map). To reach the city of Abasolo itself, one would turn
off of highway 180 onto highway 38. Based upon the overall location, I
believe that Abasolo is strategically controlled in order to form a
barrier from Zeta controlled territory to the west (#18 in the above
map) and north (#10 and #35 in the above map). Directly south of
Tamaulipas is the state of Veracruz. It is made up of 212 different
municipalities, and, due to its vast size, the various municipalities
are grouped into 10 different regions.
The
northernmost region in Veracruz is called Huasteca Alta and is composed
of 15 municipalities. was a point in time that Veracruz was
considered solely dominated by Los Zetas. An article from December 31,
2011 focused on the Huasteca Alta. It mentioned how the Pánuco River,
which marks the border of Tamaulipas and Veracruz was a line that both
sides attempted to cross, with Los Zetas incurring into Tampico and the
CDG incurring into Pueblo Viejo (#3 on the map below) and Tampico Alto
(#4 on the map below).
Times have changed. According to a note on the map created by Valor por Tamulipas
“Matarredonda and Pueblo Viejo Veracuz form part of the CDG del Sur with their own heads of plaza. They make incursions into the zones of Z control”. The municipality of Pueblo Viejo is part of the Tampico metropolitan area. While I have not specifically located Matarredona, it is not a municipality and appears to be an area within Pueblo Viejo itself.
