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on the border line between the US and Mexico
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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Five Killed in Nuevo Laredo, CDN Hitman Among the Dead, Human Rights Violation Allegations

"HEARST" for Borderland Beat


In a confusing early morning event, Army soldiers shot five men dead in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. One of those killed is alleged to be a member of the Cartel del Noroeste.


The event sparked accusations of being an extrajudicial killing, which has led to violent protests by civilians. A local human rights group, which has previously been accused of working with narcos, alleges the men killed were innocent. 



The Context 


The incident took place in the city of Nuevo Laredo, in the state of Tamaulipas, which contains one of the busiest port of entries along the Mexico-US border. The city is believed to be controlled by the Cártel del Noreste (CDN), a group that splintered off from Los Zetas after it fractured. 



It is generally believed that CDN has been less successful than other cartel groups at infiltrating and corrupting local military forces. Almost every week, CDN hitmen make headlines by getting into bloody skirmishes with military personnel.



The Initial Incident


At around 5:00 am on Sunday, February 26, 2023, six men were riding inside a white Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck in the Cavazos Lerma neighborhood when their vehicle encountered Army (SEDENA) soldiers. 


What happened next is unclear. All that is certain is that at some point, the white pickup truck crashed into a parked vehicle and the soldiers shot at the men inside, killing five and injuring one. 


The man who survived sustained two gunshot wounds and was transferred to a nearby hospital. His injuries are described as non -life threatening and he is expected to recover. 



Currently, the Army has not released a statement giving their version of events. 


This is because the Army is still conducting an investigation into what happened, interviewing soldiers who were present and reviewing surveillance footage. 


The federal Attorney General's Office (FGR) is also conducting an investigation into what transpired. 


The only version of events that is currently available comes from the Nuevo Leon Human Rights Council, a local group whose credibility will be discussed later in this article. 



The group released a letter which presents the findings of their own investigation into the event. 


They allege that the white pickup "took more than twenty shots when it was at the intersection of Husteca and Méndez. Neighbors of the sector claim that at least two young men were shot in the back of the head while lying on the pavement."



People React to the Incident, Soldiers Respond


Later that same morning, Army soldiers encountered a group of civilians near the crime scene as they attempted to tow the white pick-up truck.


Raymundo Ramos, the head of that aforementioned local human rights group, spoke to the newspaper El Sol de Tampico and explained why he believed the crowd became irate. 


He said "the actions taken by the locals was due to the Army soldiers who intervened in these events. Instead of calling the investigative authorities, they decided to bring a tow truck and take the vehicle - we assume towing it to the military barracks. It is an obstruction of the evidence, very serious. It is a way of erasing their crimes and lying to the people of Mexico. ”



El Pais seems to dispute his claim, writing that they spoke to "a Tamaulipas government source who said FGR forensic experts did process the scene of the incident."


Footage shows that civilians attempted to prevent the towing of the pickup and from there, things escalated. The exact moments in which verbal disagreements turned to a physical altercation can be seen in the various videos embedded below.


Video Source: El Mañana

El Sol de Tampico writes that there was "shoving between the residents and the military. The neighbors threw stones, pipes and sticks, while the military reacted with shots in the air and on the ground."


Video Source: José Luis Morales


Video Source: Canal 6 TV

No civilians were reportedly injured due to the gunfire, which only caused property damage. A number of soldiers can be seen being assaulted by civilians in the footage. 



Civilians attempted to block military vehicles in order to prevent the removal of the pickup truck. During the chaos of the incident, a soldier fell to the ground and was run over by a military vehicle. 






The People Involved


According to the newspapers Reforma, El Universal and Animal Politico, the men who were shot by the soldiers were named: 

  • Gustavo Pérez Beriles
  • Wilberto Mata Estrada
  • Jonathan Aguilar Sánchez
  • Alejandro Trujillo Rocha
  • Gustavo Ángel Suárez Castillo (alleged American)
  • Luis Gerardo (survived with injuries)


A relative alleges that Gustavo Ángel Suárez Castillo is a US citizen. A spokesperson for the US State Department said they had seen reports of this, but they could not confirm that information "at this time."



The journalists Raúl Flores Martínez (from Grupo Imagen) and Joaquín López-Dóriga (from Milenio) have alleged that Wilberto Mata Estrada is a CDN hitman known by the aliases of “Mando Willy” and “El Mata”.


In social media posts, Wilberto Mata Estrada has openly posed in a tactical vest bearing the cartel’s initials. 






The Controversial Group


Since a majority of the claims about the incident currently come from the Nuevo Laredo Human Rights Committee, let's examine their credibility. 


As mentioned earlier, the local human rights group is headed by a man named Raymundo Ramos Vázquez who has been accused multiple times of colluding with cartel groups.



In June 2015, the arrested los Zetas leader Ramiro Perez Moreno, alias “El Ramas” (the direct successor of Z-42) told prosecutors about his arrangement with Raymundo Ramos.


Nación 14 writes that El Ramas “claimed to have paid Raymundo Ramos five thousand dollars a week to carry out operations against the Navy and to file complaints against military personnel, as well as to carry out various protests against the government and other authorities.”



Quinta Fuerza writes that Ramos was also paid by los Zetas to accuse the military of "kidnapping, as a form of pressure to withdraw federal forces" from the region. Two other CDN bosses (El Pato and El Sonrics) reportedly made similar payments to local human rights groups. 


Ramos has been at the center of a similar case involving CDN before. In 2019, his group alleged the the military unjustly killed a group of civilians. In front of news cameras, Ramos advocated side-by-side with Irma Rendón, the mother of a victim killed by the military. Irma claimed her son was innocent and worked at a car wash. 


It later emerged that Irma's deceased son, José Indulfo Cepeda Rendon, was a CDN operational leader who went by the alias "El Manchas". 



He led the hitmen cell Tropa 202 and allegedly posted images of CDN beheading rivals on his social media. El Manchas was accompanied by another CDN member with the alias "El Wicho" when he was killed by the military. 


Additionally, the son of Carlos Domínguez Rodríguez - a journalist murdered in Nuevo Laredo while covering local corruption - has repeatedly alleged that Raymundo Ramos is involved in organized crime and receives money from drug traffickers. 


Ramos, in turn, alleged that the son was working with the Tamaulipas Attorney General's Office.


According to Nación 14, the US FBI and DEA submitted a report in 2020 which compiled evidence of their investigation into Raymundo Ramos’ cooperation with CDN which led the US government to cancel his US visa



That same year an audio recording was released which allegedly depicts Raymundo Ramos passing information about a federal investigation to a CDN plaza boss named Jorge Ezequiel Gutiérrez Pimentel, alias “El Borrado”. 


A number of Spanish-language publications such as El Pais and El Sol, as well as international publications such as Reuters, have chosen to publish quotes from Raymundo Ramos Vázquez with no disclaimer which acknowledges the accusations of his collusion with organized crime, substantiated by a FBI and DEA investigation. 





Sources: NLHRW Letter, Reforma, Lopez Doriga, La Voz del Pueblo, Telemundo, Reuters, El Pais, El Sol de Tampico, Animal Politico, El UniversalNación 14, Los Angeles Press, Quinta Fuerza



Further Reading:

Last year a similar incident occurred in Nuevo Laredo. To read more about it, please see the story linked here.



60 comments:

  1. I’ll admit, these fuckers with their masks are getting creepier and creepier..

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    Replies
    1. This particular mask is unnerving, for sure.

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    2. That mask with rabbit ears, gee willikers.

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  2. The Operativa 35 Coahuila morale patch. Where’s that moron who kept insisting that CDN doesn't have a presence inside his clown state? Mejor callate el hocico pendeja 🤣

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    Replies
    1. He has the operativa Coahuila patch but they live in Laredo they have little to no presence in Coahuila, la PCC or PAR took them out like flies..

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    2. The thing about morale patches is that they're similar to challenge coins. You don't get those without having served within certain areas throughout the world. The owner of that patch was on the ground in Coahuila doing his thing. And he lived to bring it back. It has a history.

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    3. Who cares if its real patch or he stole it these clown have no honor! The whole tier 1 operator dress up is getting real silly. It’s like the white men in the US who LARP and never served a day in their life. I bet these guys can’t even do a pull up or shoot straight.

      Semper Fi

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    4. oh you mean the gravy seals (think beer bellie and vests that ready to pop)

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    5. @2:30 Those are the ones. Dakota Mayer called those types out on YouTube and some of them think it’s ok to play tacticool dress up. In Mexico they do the same shit is depressing.

      Semper Fi

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    6. Only difference between gravy seals and these guys is that the ones in Mexico actually see the shit on a daily basis… and commit atrocities..

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    7. @3:49
      That’s because even with all the bullshit in the US there still order unlike Mexico were corruption is rampant especially among police and those who are suppose to keep the citizens safe. In Mexico almost everyday you have some new group dressed like they’re some elite special forces group 😂. Anyone can dress up in camo, shoot a gun and kill people.

      Semper Fi

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    8. Real meaningful @1043 lmfao

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    9. Probably received that patch from extorting old people on buses. Muertos de hambre

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  3. Why do all CDN members look the same? Stupid mustache and low cut 😂

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    Replies
    1. That's the average look or style in the state of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Laredo.

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  4. Pinches Viejas fodongas in that fifth picture. How is anyone suppose to take them serious when you have multiple face tattoos and one of a glock with an extended clip...

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    Replies
    1. Haha fr that's one ugly torta. She tatted up like a elementary school desk all written up

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    2. 11:23 let her be happy, you should be happy, she does not have CDN tatt on her forehead.
      Let her be joyful, as everyday, you survive in Mexico is a blessing. She may not live to be 40.

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    3. Looks like that rapper 69takashi and Daniel Ayala types 😆

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    4. I'd still smash!

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    5. 330 you mean marvelousink that squirrel looking cholo from LA hahahaha that guys is a 🤡 and confused ass asf!

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    6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    7. What's up with the guy wearing one weed sock and one pink glitter platform pantunfla. Is one leg shorter than the other?

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  5. This event barely happened and the Human Rights Group, already know the facts, give me a break. Good thing SEDENA, was able to identify as Cartel members, since the Human Rights Group is on Cartels payroll, they go out of their way, to try everything possible to make the military look bad. Where are the Human Rights Groups, when innocent citizens are getting slaughtered by the Cartels?

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    Replies
    1. They’re busy preaching propaganda about Ukraine…

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Respect for law and order?No wonder military/marina hate them

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  7. Way to go people support your armed forces.
    Awww their angry cause military took their rat CDN sicario son out

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  8. Innocent my arse it was an estaka patrullando and got caught.
    Military showed big restraint with that class mob

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  9. Fuckin love that guy with the shooter

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  10. Military need to learn from this,have a contingency plan for these 'good citizens'

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  11. Lots of these town folks are either member of organized crime or being paid to harass law enforcements. Very tough situations to be in.

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    Replies
    1. Some people on Twitter claim that the civilians who harassed the soldiers in those videos were actually CDN halcons.

      I didn't mention it in my story because the claims aren't from a credible source, but there's a number of reasons why that group of people might have acted the way they did.

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    2. @hearst there is an account on Twitter saying the dude with the black cap and long sleeve shirt is el Franky a cdn member. Ill try to find it and send it in

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  12. And there you have it: Mexico is Mexico because of its citizens.

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    1. Agreed. It's always easy to point the finger at someone else. Not everyone likes what they see in the mirror.

      Tyranny will always be better than anarchy.

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    2. Don’t let some hood rats from Tamaulipas represent a country of nearly 130 million…

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    3. "Don’t let some hood rats from Tamaulipas represent a country of nearly 130 million…"Err why not, Sinaloa,Veracruz ,Monterey ,Viccy,nah your right honest you are

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    4. 4:27 monterey? Its one of the safest big cities in Mexico now. More like Michoacan, jalisco, guerrero, guanajuato, you cant even drive around at night in most of the towns & cities in those violent person states

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    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    6. ''Tyranny will always be better than Anarchy''. You got that from Heinrich Himmler, or Reinhard Heidrich? You think those are the only 2 choices in Nuevo Laredo? Damn....

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  13. Serious question: as a soldier, or group of soldiers, at what point do you feel so unsafe that you fire directly at people? It felt like an insurgency was about to pop off. If I was one of them I probably would have panicked and began shooting these aholes. Especially after they were stomping on dude on the ground.

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    Replies
    1. Yea I agree with you 100%

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    2. He should of, his life was in danger, that way he could of taken a few rats out of their misery

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    3. This is a problem with having military involved in typical law enforcement activities - particularly an apparent lack of less lethal means to control crowds and unruly persons. Frankly, it's appalling, no matter what the situation, to see trained soldiers discharge weapons into the air or the pavement - both of which are exceedingly dangerous and potentially deadly. It's simply not an acceptable use of force. OC spray, batons, dogs, etc would have been acceptable and preferable means to control the situation.

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    4. @2.40 An insurgency was about to pop off? A handful of angry locals confronting fully trained soldiers with military weapons and vehicles is not an insurgency. It's people sick of the army acting like the cartels, and brutalising neighbourhoods because they are trained to treat vulnerable communities already victimised by gangs as if they are war zones to be suppressed and conquered.

      Delete
  14. Santa muerte is happy with this offering of dumbass worshippers!!

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  15. Its a little disturving on the message that Wilbertos sister writes, "now who is gonna come at night and bother me or sleep with me" 🤔

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    1. 9:24 you must not know people from monterrey and tamaulipas, they marry their causins, so a sister is fair game, they are the Louisianans of Mexico

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  16. CDN and the Trevinos are pure scum not human.

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  17. Isn't the lady in the 5th picture with blue shirt and purple shorts the mom of the deceased from 2019 el manchas?

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  18. I think cdn are some thieving low life bastards but the soldiers are no better then them either because alot are ratas also and are known to cover up for their comrades when they shoot a civilian by accident and that happens alot in Mexico not just nuevo laredo.

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  19. As always Family members claimed their relatives were innocent. Sick people.

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  20. Great article and research, gracias! Those civilians were very lucky not to get shot; if it was police being attacked in most nations they'd be shot for sure.

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  21. NL is a shithole through and through

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  22. I lived in Nuevo Laredo, dudes in their 20's with tattoos in that area are yhe ones that are cdn or bangers who were deported. Far from being law abiding citizens

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