National Guard Captures El Lexus Or El Escorpión 17, Leader Of Two Important Armed Wings Of Gulf Cartel Matamoros Faction

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from PROCESO 

JULY 17, 2024

The alleged drug lord was arrested in Miramar beach south of Tamaulipas and transferred to El Altiplano prison.

(Authorities in Mexico announced the arrest of Antonio Guadalupe Pérez Domínguez, known as “El Escorpión 17” and leader of two of the Gulf Cartel's main cells (Los Ciclones and Los Escorpiones) in the towns of Matamoros and Reynosa, who has already been handed over to the judicial system.

The Mexican government said in a statement published on its website that the arrest took place on July 16 in Ciudad Madero, in the state of Tamaulipas, as part of an operation by the Special Reaction and Intervention Force (FERI) of the National Guard (GN).

He indicated that the man was arrested in Miramar beach “as a result of inter-institutional coordination to strengthen the rule of law in the country and detect criminal organizations in that state,” before highlighting that he had an arrest warrant issued by a judge.

“A tactical team from FERI, in support of the Special Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime (Femdo) and the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), through intelligence work and field activities, located Antonio Guadalupe “N”, who allegedly formed part of the criminal structure of the Gulf Cartel (CDG), as the alleged leader of said criminal organization with presence in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, who had an arrest warrant issued by a federal judge”.

“El Escorpión 17” has already been transferred to El Altiplano prison in the state of Mexico, where he was ‘placed at the disposal of the competent authorities, who will determine his legal situation,’ according to the government, which stated that four other people have been arrested as a result of this arrest.

“With this arrest, we have contributed to weakening a criminal organization with a presence in the state of Tamaulipas, limiting its financial activities, trafficking of illegal immigrants and drugs to the United States, and the illegal introduction of firearms into national territory,” it said, before stressing that the operation was carried out ‘with strict adherence to the rule of law and with full respect for human rights’.

Finally, he said that the operation demonstrates that “the NG reaffirms the unwavering decision of the federal government to continue acting against organized crime, meeting the needs that society demands”, while “reaffirming its commitment to ensure and safeguard the welfare of citizens, guaranteeing the peace and security of the population”.

FOLLOW-UP         BY: CHAR

EL LEXUS 

EL TOÑITO

SC17

EL LEXUS, EL TOÑITO, or SC 17, was a high-ranking Gulf Cartel Matamoros faction, lieutenant of Group Scorpion. El Lexus was the mastermind of making incursions into the San Fernando Plaza in Tamaulipas, and was the leader of the armed wing called "Grupo Ranger."  El Lexus or SC 17 and Zetas Vieja Escuela-Group Metros Gulf Cartel faction of Reynosa were engaged in a war for control over the San Fernando plaza. 

SOURCE: PROCESO, Vivo En Marte 

Read More

Heavy Clashes Are Being Reported For Weeks Between Zetas Vieja Escuela Against Group Scorpions In San German, Tamaulipas

 "Char" for Borderland Beat 

These videos and information were posted by ALERTA CODIGO ROJO ON X 

ZETAS VIEJAS ESCUELA-GROUP METROS GULF CARTEL FACTION OF REYNOSA VERSUS GROUP SCORPIONS GULF CARTEL FACTION OF MATAMOROS 

In recent weeks heavy clashes have resumed in Tamaulipas as Group Scorpions seem to be pushing toward Reynosa city limits. This has provoked clashes to resume in territories under the control of ZVE-Zetas Vieja Escuela allies of Group Metros of Reynosa. 

"Shootout in San German, Tamaulipas, between Los Zetas Vieja Escuela vs Grupo Escorpion/ Matamoros, in the first video it is mentioned that a monster of Los Escorpion stepped on a mine and caught fire, this area has more than a week of shootings between antagonistic groups."-ALERTAS CODIGO ROJO

📍

Read More

Gulf Cartel Matamoros Faction Group Scorpion Destroyed Rivals 'Grupo Operativo Toros' Armed wing Of Group Metros Of Reynosa Armored Monster Vehicle In Reynosa: Tamaulipas. GRAPHIC COMBAT FOOTAGE VIDEO

 "Char" and "Enojon" for Borderland Beat 

This video was published by bélicos de Matamoros 

As we predicted in a previous post, a source from Reynosa confirmed that Group Scorpion of Matamoros is pushing and getting closer to Reynosa city limits. Reportedly there is a strong discontent with the current leadership of El Primito and his brother R8, but Los Metros members do not say it openly because it would be putting themselves on a silver platter to get killed.

MESSAGE FROM BÉLICOS DE MATAMOROS 

" Here is the Group Operative TOROS who are the special forces of Los Metros are pure fucking filth. You already know fuckers we got inside Rincon De Las Flores we have people inside there in Reynosa you guys do not even know when the blows will come in" 

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 

The video of approximately 1:17 minutes shows Group Scorpions destroying a monster armored vehicle belonging to Grupo Operativo Toros an armed wing of Reynosa Gulf Cartel. The hitmen are using high-caliber weapons to destroy their rival's vehicles, and one hitman can be heard screaming full of adrenaline. This specific hitman screaming loudly is told by his fellow troops to calm the hell down and that this stuff is to be done calmly. 

📍

SOURCE: BORDERLAND BEAT 

Read More

Bloody Holy Thursday

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Reynosa, Tamaulipas— Members of the Mexican military, marines, and Fuerza Tamaulipas repelled attacks by armed groups yesterday in the cities of Matamoros and Río Bravo, in a battle scenario that left a total of 10 dead: six aggressors killed and four others were executed with a coup de grâce in a dispute between rival groups.

In the municipality of Río Bravo, members of the Navy of Mexico responded to gunfire in two separate incidents that killed four suspects belonging to organized crime groups.

The first violent incident occurred in the neighborhoods Paraíso and Paraíso Norte, where several individuals traveling in a pickup truck with Texas plates fired on the Mexican Navy, who were carrying out patrols.

The infantrymen repelled the aggression and a persecution was unleashed in the area.  After the confrontation, one of the alleged offenders died and the navy seized a vehicle, a high-powered weapon, and communication equipment.

Through a statement, the Tamaulipas Coordination Group specified that later, another group of individuals on board two trucks attacked members of the navy, as it passed through gap #109, located at kilometer 14, in the rural area of the municipality.

These events resulted in the deaths of three alleged delinquents, which had assault weapons, magazines, and various equipment.  

In social networks, it was said that one of the armed clashes resulted in the death of a man known as “Comandante Charmín.”

Ministerial authorities were informed of the two assaults on navy personnel, in order to follow up on corresponding investigations.

Rival Groups

Read More

Spokesman of Tamaulipas: "In Tamaulipas We Are At Peace”

Shootout during Children's Day festivities

The Spokesman of Tamaulipas, Guillermo Martínez, on April 22 stated that statewide “we are at peace…at calm” and announced that they would hold a meeting to rethink the regional security strategy.

The spokesman’s statements occur in a context of frequent reports of shootings and criminal acts in the state of Tamaulipas.

May 6, 2014—At least 41 homicides (Others have reported higher numbers) have occurred in the state of Tamaulipas from April 22 to May 5, according to official tally figures.

One of those killed this week was Colonel Salvador de Haro Muñoz, who was recently appointed Chief of Intelligence of the Public Security Ministry of Tamaulipas. 

Just yesterday, 10 people were murdered.  The Coordination Group of Tamaulipas, which is integrated with state and federal security forces, reported that the clashes occurred in the municipalities of Reynosa, Matamoros and Ciudad Victoria.

In Reynosa, shortly after 14:00 hours, members of a criminal group attacked Federal Police officers who were carrying out a surveillance patrol, sparking a chase that ended at the parking entrance of a shopping center on Hidalgo Boulevard and El Pasito Avenue.  At that point, four armed civilians, who were traveling in one of the cars, were shot to death while trying to escape while firing at the police.  Three of them were on the pavement while the fourth was dead inside the vehicle.

Meanwhile in Matamoros, on Monday at 11:15 hours, armed civilians who were traveling in a truck, opened fire at members of the Mexican Navy who were carrying out a surveillance patrol on the road Lauro del Villar, off Ciudad Industrial.  One of the assailants was killed as he confronted the Mexican Navy with a high caliber weapon, while his companions managed to escape by running through undergrowth.

In Ciudad Victoria, an operation by the State Police against a criminal group ended with a shootout that left five males dead, including the Chief of Intelligence of the Public Security Ministry of Tamaulipas.

The governor of Tamaulipas regretted “deeply the death of the brave police chief, fallen in the line of duty” and expressed his condolences, as well as wishing a speedy recovery of the members of the federal forces who were injured in those incidents.

Since April 22 until last week, there were violent incidents in the municipalities of San Fernando, Matamoros, Miguel Alemán, Ciudad Victoria and Reynosa.

As of Friday of last week, government reports indicated that 24 “armed civilians” were killed.

Official figures indicate that two federal policemen were killed in a shootout in Reynosa.

It was also reported that three innocent people were also killed.

In another incident that occurred in Ciudad Victoria, the owner of a taco shop and a client were killed, while seven others were injured in the shootout that occurred on the night of April 25.

Just Tuesday of last week, a series of shootouts and blockades left at least 16 people dead.

This adds up to at least 41 homicides in Tamaulipas…and counting.

Sources: Aristegui Noticias, Milenio

Additional photos on next page: Graphic Content

Read More

3 die as Mexican security forces conduct raids in Tamaulipas

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Three unidentified armed suspects were killed in an apparent intergang gunfight in Ciudad Mier municipality, as Mexican security forces in the form of Mexican Army and naval infantry units seized weapons munitions and drugs in several encounters and raids in northern Tamaulipas municipalities over the weekend, according to official Mexican news accounts.

According to a news release posted on the state government's website, a Policia Militar unit had been dispatched Friday at around 0300 hrs to a location near a funeral home near the intersection of Libramiento 5 de Junio and  Bulevar El Huizache, in Mezquital colony on the basis pf an anonymous citizen's complaint, where the military unit found two armed suspects killed by gunfire.  A third body was found inside the funeral home five hours later.

Mexican naval infantry units conducted several raids and engaged in a brief firefight with armed suspects in northern Tamaulipas municipalities.

In Reynosa Sunday night a marine unit was dispatched via a citizen's complaint to Las Seybas colony where marines found a tunnel with two vehicles parked inside.  The tunnel itself was 60 meters long, by six meters wide by three meters high.  Vehicles found inside include one Ford Super Duty pickup truck and one Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.  Marines also found 11 weapons magazines for rifles, 1,121 rounds of ammunition and three radios.

In Rio Bravo municipality marines seized a number of contraband including  11 rifles, one pistol, one grenade launcher, 293 weapons magazines, 1,167 rounds of ammunition, two grenades and packages of marijuana cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.    One Toyota Tacoma and one Ford Lobo (F-150) pickup truck along with military uniforms and four radios were seized at the location as well.

Also on Sunday at night, between San Fernando and Matamoros municipalities, a  marine unit exchanged gunfire with armed suspects, forcing the suspects to abandon their vehicles and flee the scene.

According to the government's account, armed suspects were traveling aboard two vans when the occupants opened fire on the marine road patrol.

Earlier in the day closer to Matamoros, a marine road patrol conducted a traffic stop, detaining one suspect who was driving a pickup truck.

The detainee was identified as Sergio Alejandro Lopez Muñoz, reportedly a member of an unidentified criminal group.  Inside the truck marines also found one AR-15 rifle, one weapons magazine, 300 rounds of ammunition and one kilogram of marijuana.

Meanwhile, Mexican Army units conducted three raids in Reynosa and Cruillas municipalities netting 14 suspects and a number of contraband.

In Reynosa municipality a Mexican Army unit was dispatched to a residencein Rancho Grande colony because a citizen filed a complaint about armed suspects in the area.

Soldiers detained nine unidentified suspects total including six Mexican nationals, two from Guatemala and one from Nicaragua.  Contraband seized included two rifles, three pistols, 151 weapons magazines, 694 rounds of ammunition and two vehicles.

A second Mexican Army road patrol stopped a vehicles and detained three unidentified suspects.  The government report said the suspects were in then area working a lookouts for  a local criminal group.   Soldiers seized two radios.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

3 die in Matamoros

Three unidentified armed suspects were shot to death after firing on a Mexican Navy helicopter in the border municipality of Matamoros Friday afternoon, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to an official news report posted on the website of Tamaulipas state government, the incident began Friday at 15:25 hrs, when a Mexican naval helicopter observed several armed suspects traveling aboard two vehicles in ejido Francisco I. Madero.  Some of the suspects fired on the bird, causing naval personnel to return fire.

Naval return fire killed three.  Others in the convoy escaped the scene.  Mexican security forces seized a Chevrolet Equinox SUV and an AK-47 rifle.  The dead were all men in their 20s.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

11 die in Tamaulipas

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of 11 men were killed in several gunfights in the border cities of Matamoros Monday and Reynosa Tesday, according to official Mexican news accounts.

Monday the mayor of Matamoros, a Tamaulipas city that borders the United States, Leticia Salazar warned her city via Twitter about roadblocks and gun fights taking place in Matamoros.

Late Monday night the Grupo Coordinacion Tamaulipas reported a total of five armed suspects were wounded in gunfights with Mexican security forces.

According to the news release which appeared on the website of Tamaulipas state government, gunfire was exchanged starting at 1300, and ending at 1500 hrs, and spread to other sectors of the city. 

One gunfight, which took place at 1400 hrs near the intersection of calles Valle Real and Valle Monica in Valle Real, left one Mexican Army soldier dead.

According to the report, the incident began Uniones colony where a Mexican Army road patrol attempted to stop a SUV, but instead attempted to flee,  initiating a pursuit.  When the patrol followed the SUV into Valle Real colony, the soldiers were were ambushed.

The report said a number of other army road patrols were ambushed in other sectors of the city.  The report said that at least five armed suspects were wounded in the fighting.

A news account which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila news daily said that a separate encounter took place between Mexican Army forces and armed suspects at 1330 hrs near the intersection of calles de Sendero Nacional and 12 de Marzo in Las Aguilas and  Puerto Rico colonies, as well as at other sectors in the city as well.

Armed suspects put up roadblocks in the streets and laid out across several streets in Matamoros ponchar de los neumaticos, or metal stars used to puncture vehicle tires .

A Mexican Naval Infantry helicopter was also deployed Monday in an attempt to prevent the escape of armed suspects traveling in the city by vehicle and had been fired on by armed suspects.

According to the news report five armed suspects were killed in a firefight on Avenida Uniones in Esperanza colony near the Decofimex factory.

The five dead were said to be members of the Gulf Cartel.

According to a news account which appeared in Notinfomex, a number of gunfights and road blocks have taken place in Reynosa Tuesday afternoon which have left five armed suspects dead.

The sudden activity in Reynosa is said to be local criminal gangs' reaction to the detention by a Mexican Naval Infantry unit of a Gulf cartel plaza chief identified in news account only as El Simple.

Another news account which appeared in Amigos de Tamaulipas website mentioned a Tweet by the Nuevo Leon Coordinacion Estatal de la Policia Federal which warned that a number of gunfights and roadblock were taking place in Reynosa, warning Nuevo leon residents away from the region.

Twitter reports include roadblocks on Avenida Hidalgo, and said that government helicopters are flying in the area.

The Notinfomex account said that a total of five armed suspects have been killed in Reynosa so far.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Matamoros mayor warns about "grave risks"' in her city

Leticia Salazer, foto de Twitter

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The mayor of the northern Mexican border city of Matamoros is warning residents about extreme risks associated with traveling in the city, according to Mexican news reports.

Leticia Salazar took to Twitter Monday afternoon to warn her constituents about risks from road blocks and presumably shootings in the city.  According to a news account which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily, four photographs which were taken Monday afternoon and posted to Twitter, showed two roadblocks and students inside a classroom ducking to the floor, presumably to avoid gun fire.

A check of Twitter showed very little in the way of information about the elevated risk in Matamoros, mosly reactions to Señora Salazar's warnings.  Two events in the last three days may have been a factor in any elevated risk.

Friday a hand grenade was detonated in Ciudad Victoria, state capital of Tamaulipas, which did some damage to a metal overhead door at the residence of father of Alejandro Etienne, mayor of Ciudad Victoria.  Later a painted banner, colloquially known as a narcomanta or narcopinta said to be from a local Los Zetas commander in the city appeared, as a warning to the government.

Another incident took place in Brownsville Texas, directly across the border from Matamoros,  Monday when a young woman identified in a ValleyCentral.com English language report as Dayna Velasquez, 21, was allegedly caught with 12 kilograms of cocaine inside the vehicle she was driving.

A news account which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Chihuahua news daily said that shootout began at noon in San Carlos colony and the spread to other sectors of the city including on Avenida Pedro Cardenas.  No reports have emerged as to casualties, which is not unusual in shootouts in Tamaulipas border cities.

Starting in 2010 some of the worse intergang fighting between the Los Zetas cartel and their bitterest rivals, the Gulf Cartel took place in Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo and in Reynosa as shooters fought openly against one another, the fighting of which often produced  roadblocks.  Much of the violence at the time went unreported because, reportedly local press were under death threats from local drug gangs not to publish news about the activities.

During those years local Twitter users  as well as local government officials used Twitter to report gunfights and shootings and shootouts.

With the election of president Enrique Pena Nieto almost two years ago, the government got into the news spiking business by stopping the practice of reporting on individual incidents and compiling series of incidents into one, thereby reducing -- and improving -- crime statistics.  According to Tijuana, Baja California based Zetas magazine, only one part of the new anti crime strategy has worked: the statistics have improved, but not the violence, which is as bad as it has ever been.

Señora Salazar has run afoul of Mexico's Secretaria de Gobernacion (SEGOB), or interior minister Miguel Osorio Chong before, last December, when she suggested she may call for a curfew in the city after a series of shootout between rival criminal gangs, which left 13 dead.  At the time Osorio Chong said it would be illegal for her to impose a curfew, which may not be completely true.

Curfews in Mexican localities have been called for or imposed by local government officials because of drug and gang related violence, including, reportedly in Piedras Negras in Coahuila state in 2012 and Jimenez in Chihuahua state in late 2013 because of the extreme violence from local drug gang rivalries.

Lately the federal government's anti crime strategy has undergone a transparent shift as former head of Mexico's Comision Nacional de Seguridad, Manuel Mandrgon y Kalb has left his post, and was replaced by Monte Alejandro Rubido.

According to a news report last week in Milenio, several Mexican senators have noted that the new appointee signals a strategy shift more towards then strategy of former president Felipe Calderon  Hinojosa.

It remains to be seen if Calderon's hands off strategy with regard to the press will be followed as well.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War nad national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

4 die in Tamaulipas state

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of three armed suspects were killed in two separate incidents in Tamaulipas state since Thursday, and a Mexican federal police official was assassinated, according to official Mexican government news accounts.

According to a new release posted on the state government website of Tamaulipas, last Friday night a Mexican Army road patrol intercepted a convoy of at least two vehicles in ejido El Olivo near Recinto Ferial in Matamoros municipality.  The suspects in the vehicles fired on the army patrol and return fire by soldiers hit and killed two.

As others in the convoy managed to escape, both of the dead were left on the roadway.  The report said the men who were killed were both in their 20s.  Soldiers seized one AK-47 rifle, weapons magazines and ammunition, and one Chevrolet Malibu sedan.

Meanwhile in Reynosa municipality, one armed suspect was killed in an apparent traffic stop attempt by a Mexican Army road patrol.

The incident took place at around 1200 hrs near the intersection of Bulevar Tiburcio Garza Zamora and Calle San Luis in Rodríguez colony, where the army patrol attempted the stop, but were instead fired on by the driver, said to be in his 20s, who was aboard a Chevrolet Tornado pickup truck.

Soldiers seized one AR-15 rifle in the aftermath, as well as the vehicle.

The day before in Gonzalez municipality, an unidentified Policia Federal Preventativa inspector was shot and killed at 1015 hrs near the intersection of Avenida Insurgentes and Calle Honduras in Aviacion de Villa Manuel colony.

Suspects aboard a Chevrolet pickup truck are suspected in the attack.

Secretario de Seguridad Publica del Estado resigns

According to a news release on the Tamaulipas state website, Tamaulipas' Secretario de Seguridad Publica del Estado> (SSPE) resigned his position after 36 months in office.

Lomeli Martinez was said to have personal reasons for his resignation.  The website report notes that Lomeli Martinez oversaw the certification of police in the state, the worst record in Mexico at only 43 percent of police certified to work as police as of last fall.  At the time, police certifications were due to be complete, but Mexico's national Chamber of Deputies extended the deadline another year, the third extension in four years.

Replacing Lomeli Martinez is Brigade General Arturo Gutierrez Garcia, who was formerly chief of staff of the Mexican IV Military Region, based in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon between 2012 and 2013.  Searches of government websites yield little in the way of former commands for the general, although Mexican civilian press says he has extensive field experience.

The Secretaria de Defensa Nacional (SEDENA), controlling agency for the Mexican Army indicates that General Gutierrez Garcia has served as military attache to Honduras a few years ago.

It must be noted that Lomeli Martinez, himself a former Mexican Army first captain, became SSPE just as the mass graves in San Fernando were being discovered.  The total dead found was 193, the worst in the Mexican Drug War.

His predecessor, Brigadier General Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco, resigned his position after only 107 days in the wake of the discovery of the immensity of the mass murders in San Fernando municipality.

Command Shuffling in Northeast Mexico

Both of the two command units covering Tamaulipas have undergone changes of command since last December, 2013.  Every November, the SEDENA comes out with its latest promotions of flag officers, and sometimes with it new commanders are reassigned.  The Mexican Army likes its commanders to have extensive experience in the field, and so commanders tend to stay in place, so that they may train new subordinates.  Normal command shuffling takes place in June, but sometimes they are known to take place directly after the promotions lists come out.

Th IV Military Region, which includes Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and San Luis Potosi states, recently experienced a change of command as General de Division Tomas Jaime Aguirre Cervantes took command of the region last December, according to data supplied by Milenio news daily.

General Aguirre Cervantes has extensive command experience commanding several military zones including the 11th, 33rd and 40th Zones.  He has taught at Mexico's Escuela Superior de Guerra and was commandant of Heroico Colegio Militar.  His other assignments include work in intelligence and in counterintelligence.

He replaces General Noe Sandoval Alcazar, who took an administrative job for SEDENA in Mexico City.

Meanwhile the 8th Military Zone, a subordinate unit to the IV Military Region, experienced a change of command as General de Brigada Pedro Felipe Gurrola Ramirez took command, replacing General de Brigada Miguel Gustavo Gonzalez Cruz, according to a news report in El Manana news daily.

General Gurrola Ramirez is a special forces soldier with command experience in Culican in Sinaloa state and in Chiapas state.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

3 die in Tamaulipas as Mexican security forces seize weapons

Three armed suspects were killed in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas as Mexican security forces seized 90 rifles and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in separate incidents, according to official Mexican news reports.

An official news release posted Saturday on the Tamaulipas state government website said that one unidentified armed suspect was killed in an exchange of gunfire in El Mante municipality Saturday afternoon.

A Mexican Naval Infantry road patrol observed armed suspects traveling aboard several vehicles in convoy on a road between Mante and a location called Balneario La Aguja.

Gunfire was exchanged and one armed suspect was killed while other suspects managed to flee the scene.

Marines seized one Nissan Frontier pickup truck, two .45 caliber semiautomatic pistols, two weapons magazines and 46 rounds of ammunition.  The victim in the shooting was said to be in his 20s.

Wednesday, a Mexican Army road patrol encountered a number of armed suspects, killing two and detaining five.

According to a separate news account,  the military detachment was in Reynosa municipality near a break identified as El Becerro when soldiers came under small arms fire from armed suspect traveling aboard several vehicles.

The two shooting victims were said to be in their 20s, and five other suspects were detained at the scene.  Soldiers also took possession of one Nissan Pathfinder SUV, two Ford F-150 pickup trucks, one compact sedan, 16 rifles, 72 weapons magazines and 1,158 rounds of ammunition.

Mexican security forces have also seized 90 rifles and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in separate operations in the state in the past week.

A Mexican Naval Infantry unit was dispatched to a location in Buenavista colony in Matamoros municipality on a report of armed suspects in the area. Inside a residence marines seized 31 rifles,  8,000 rounds of ammunition, 445 weapons magazines and one Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.

In Oasis colony in the same municipality, Marines were dispatched to a residence where they found 59 rifles, 1,685 rounds of ammunition, 223 weapons magazines and one Chevrolet pickup truck.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

Top Mexican security official dismisses mayor's claims

Miguel Osorio Chong

Mexico's interior minister, Miguel Osorio chong Wednesday dismissed claims made by a Tamaulipas mayor that criminal groups were terrorizing the city.

According to a news account which appeared in the online edition of Milenio news daily, Osorio Chong said that  he regretted Matamoros mayor, Norma Leticia Salazar's call for a curfew, characterizing the call as unneeded.

Osorio Chong hinted that the call for a curfew may have been illegal, however, municipal presidents in northern states have imposed curfews in past years due to extreme violence by local criminal groups.  Because of the federalization of internal security in Mexico, the only other official who can impose curfew is the president of the republic, but only after votes by the council of ministers and the Mexican national legislature.

Last Sunday, a total of 13 armed suspects were killed by Mexican military forces in three separate incidents in Matamoros, during a time when an internal split in criminal groups associated with the Gulf Cartel had gone hot.

The situation was so dire, that even national media had reported street names, and Twitter reported that teens were being recruited at gunpoint to replace losses by the gunfights between rival factions, and security forces.

Normally in the past Mexican national media rarely, if ever reported on specific claims made by criminal groups, but it is clear now that with a nationwide clamp on news released about criminal actions, media organizations are desperate enough for news, they are reporting on claims made in Twitter and other social media means.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com  he can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com

Read More

3 die in Matamoros

Three armed suspects were shot to death in an armed confrontation with Mexican security forces in Matamoros, Tamaulipas Wednesday night, according to official government news sources.

According to a news release posted on the state government website of Tamaulipas, the incident took place at 2100 hrs near the intersection of  Avenida Division del Norte and Calle Republica de Cuba in Modelo colony where a Mexican Army road patrol had observed an then signaled a number of armed suspects who were traveling aboard a Chevrolet pickup truck.

The armed suspects fired on the army patrol which returned fire killing all three men.

One of the dead was identified as Juan Antonio Sanchez Lumbreras, 22, of Matamoros.

After the confrontation ended army troops seized three rifles, an undisclosed number of weapons magazine and ammunition.  The suspects were wearing bulletproof vest and according to the news release, had military style haircuts.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com. His latest work of non-fiction, the Wounded Eagle, Volume 2, can be found at Smashwords and Amazon.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com.

Read More

Mexican Army dispatches 2 armed suspects

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Several shootouts between rival drug gangs, and with Mexican federal security forces have taken place Monday, leaving two dead in Matamoros in Tamaulipas state, according to Mexican news reports.

According to a news account which appeared on the online edition of Milenio, several armed suspects were traveling aboard a two vehicle convoy on Avenida Rigo Tovar Monday when they encountered a Mexican Army road patrol. The ensuing gunfight and pursuit ended near ejido El Juanillo.

The report said that two were killed, but only one individual, a local man named Oscar Andres Escamilla Sala, had been identified.

A new release by the US Consulate in Matamoros Monday warned about gunfire being reported in San Rafael, Obrera and Paseo Residencial residential districts including near a Walmart, but news of the warning appeared in press just this afternoon. Many of the data came from social media in Matamoros including Twitter and Facebook.

The Twitter post warning of the gunfire appeared at around 1650 hrs and an all clear post appeared an hour later.

It is unclear in concurrent news reports as of Tuesday night if the danger has been eliminated or is ongoing.

According to a news item posted on El Blog del Narco narco blog, roadblocks have been taking place in Matamoros, which is the usual response of local criminal gangs when attempting to stop security forces from closing.

Meanwhile in Brownsville, Texas, US Border Patrol Agents seized 87 kilograms of marijuana in a vehicle attempting to cross over into the US Tuesday.

According to a separate Milenio report, US agents searched a 1998 Chevrolet Suburban SUV finding the drugs hidden inside the vehicle's fuel tank. An unidentified Mexican national in his 20s was detained at the scene.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com

Read More

US Consulate in Matamoros extends travel warning as kidnappings soar in Tamaulipas -- UPDATED

Found:  Wendy Soto Misell

UPDATE:  Updating with new information that Wendy Soto Misell was with her biological mother.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The US Consulate in Matamoros in Tamaulipas state has extended a warning to its citizens and employees about travelling highway in Tamaulipas, according to Mexican news accounts.

According to a news report posted on the website of Milenio, the US Consulate based ion Matamoros in Tamaulipas has extended an advisory it originally issued last November against travel in northern areas of Tamaulipas state.  According to the report, specific concerns listed were of armed robbery and kidnappings, especially on the roads linking Matamoros and Reynosa.

This writer was unable to locate the specific warning extension.  The November 20th, 2012 travel warning was issued by the US State Department for the entire nation of Mexico.  A US Consulate in Hermosillo, Sonora state had issued travel restrictions on US government employees travelling in Mexico, especially between Nogales and Hermosillo in Sonora.  Those warnings were issued just days after the massive intergang shootout in Tubutama in Sonora early July 2010.

A separate warning was released December 14th, 2012 by the US Consulate in Matamroros due to the threat of kidnappings and carjackings which occurred outside of Matamoros and Renosa.

Nuevo Laredo, west of Reynosa, has experienced a severe spike kidnapping, particularly of teens in the passed week.  A news report posted on El Manana news daily said that four cases of kidnapped youths from age 13 to 20 have been reported in Nuevo laredo.  The article claims that Tamaulipas government authorities are helpless or are unable to investigate the abductions.

The report also said that parents have been forced to investigate the disappearances of children.

A separate article which also appeared on the website of El Manana reported that a nine year old girl, identified as Wendy Soto Misell, disappeared and was presumed kidnapped last Wednesday at around 1200 hrs.  The report said that Wendy attended  La Primaria Luis Donaldo Colosio school in Nuevo Laredo.

However a later news brief in El Manana said that Wendy had been with her biological mother right along.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Read More

Terror in Tamaulipas: 7 die

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of four unidentified individuals were killed in an armed encounter with  Mexican Army road patrol in Matamoros in Tamaulipas Tuesday afternoon, according to Mexican news reports and government news releases.

According to an El Universal news wire dispatch posted on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily, the gunfight took place at around 1310 hrs in Paradiso colony near the intersection of calles Nevado de Toluca and Sierra Tarahumara.

The armed suspects were travelling aboard a Chevrolet Suburban when the encounter took place.  Following the confrontation several weapons were found inside the vehicle including three rifles, a handgun, 28 weapons magazines and ammunition.

Elsewhere, in Reynosa, according to the same news dispatch, two men  were found shot to death aboard a Toyota Tundra Monday night.  The vehicle was found by police near on Avenida Luis Donaldo Colosio near the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge at around 2000 hrs.

The victims were identified as Claudio Hernandez Velazquez, 28 and Miguel Ángel Flores Velazquez, 18.  Inside the vehicle authorities also found guns, grenades and tactical gear.

Meanwhile in Nuevo Laredo one unidentified 47 year old woman was shot to death and four others were wounded in an attack on a dance hall, according to a news release posted on the website of the Tamaulipas state Procuraduria General del Estado (PGE) or state attorney general office.

The attack took place at around 2300 hrs Monday night at the Themis dance hall in Prolongacio Guerrero in Campestre colony.  The woman was taken to receive medical attention before she succumbed to her wounds.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Read More

1 wounded in three grenade attacks in Tamaulipas

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

One unidentified individuals was wounded three in separate grenade attacks in Matamoros and Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas Sunday night and Monday morning, according to Mexican news and Twitter reports.

Originally, those reports said five had been hurt, but an announcement by the Tamaulipas state Procuraduria General de Justicia or attorney general posted on the state website Monday night said only one had been wounded.

Sunday night's attack took place near the Televisa television studios in Matamoros.  That attack took place around 2200 hrs EDT near the intersection of avenidas Manuel Cavazos Lerma and Fresnos in Paseo Residencial colony.  The detonation caused no injuries or damage.

In Ciudad Victoria, one grenade was detonated in a vacant lot near the intersection of calles 9th and Coahuila in San José colony at around 0950 hrs.  No damage or persons wounded were reported in that attack.

A second grenade attack took place at a car dealership near the intersection of calles 9th and Berriozabal, presumably near Zona Centro.  One individual was wounded in that attack.  Some unspecified damage has been reported.

The attack took place at about 1020 hrs EDT.  The attorney general report said that explosions accompanied the detonation of the grenade, which usually means small arms fire.

Several attacks using grenades and small arms fire were initiated over the last two weeks in Ciudad Victoria.  The most serious, on March 14th took the lives of four individuals. 

News reports say the Tamaulipas state Secretaria de Seguridad Publica and Procuraduria General de Justicia revealed those March 14th attacks were part of an intergang gunfight between rival criminal groups.

At least seven grenade and small arms attacks have been made in Ciudad Victoria alone since March 14th, nearly all of them between rival criminal groups.  At least five have been killed and many more have been wounded in these encounters.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com

Read More

Cartel shootout reported near Los Indios bridge

Grenade attack reported on Matamoros police roadblock

June 07, 2011 8:18 PM


Members of the Gulf Cartel and Zetas clashed in a long, drawn-out gun battle Tuesday that began in the outskirts of Matamoros and concluded near Lucio Blanco, a town near the Los Indios International Bridge.

The Mexican military arrived in force at Lucio Blanco, with a large contingent of troops and a helicopter in response to reports of armed civilians fighting each other, a Mexican law enforcement official said.

U.S. authorities could hear the firefight and see the helicopter in the distance. The Cameron County Sheriff’s Department sent out additional deputies to the area as a precautionary measure. The bridge was not closed to traffic.

A source with firsthand knowledge of criminal activity in Mexico said that the firefight began in the outskirts of Matamoros after an apparent attempt by the Zetas to enter Matamoros. The Zetas were met by members of the Gulf Cartel, with the firefight turning into a chase through dirt roads and ending up near Lucio Blanco. The clash was broken up when the military arrived and turned it into a three-way firefight.

The number of dead or wounded couldn’t be learned at press time Tuesday.

The source also said that a group of Zetas threw a grenade at a Matamoros municipal police roadblock in the outskirts of the city Monday evening. The attack took place less than a mile from the city’s airport.

A Mexican law enforcement official confirmed the attack and that a patrol suffered minor damage but would not confirm whether a criminal organization was behind it. No injuries or deaths were reported in the grenade attack.



Source

The Monitor

Read More

Shootout in Matamoros, CDG vs Marines, 5 Arrested

November 29, shootout breaks out in Matamoros. The shootout took place in Avenida Sendero, in front of a Soriana store, sources state the shootout was between the CDG and the Marines. Reports started to flow slowly yesterday afternoon, but I was holding back on the story because the information was too inaccurate. Initial reports stated, 6 reported deaths and several Federal Agents killed.





People in the area also reported hearing explosions going off, possibly grenades. The criminal group were burning grasslands in the area as a strategy to prevent the visibility of the helicopters. Reports started pouring from all over the place, but nothing of which I felt reliable enough to base the coverage on.




Official statements released by the SSP...

SSP PRESS reported, five suspected criminals in possession of high-powered weapons, handguns and grenades where detained in a shootout that broke out infront of Soriana Superstore. These people moved on Federal Highway from Matamoros to Reynosa, Tamaulipas when taking notice of several elements of the Federal Police, launched an attack with firearms.



Agents responded to the fire and following a chase, the agents were able to intercept in the streets Constituyentes, between Septima y Segunda in Matamoros in a black pick up, plates 15TH538TX.

Read More

41 Alleged Zetas and Gulf Cartels Members Escape

41 escape Matamoros-area facility known to detain Zeta, Gulf Cartel members.

Matamoros, Tamaulipas - Tamaulipas authorities are on the hunt for two prison guards who are accused of helping 41 inmates escape from the Matamoros municipal detention center (CEDES, formerly known as CERESO) early Thursday morning.

The escape took place between 4 and 5 a.m. at the center when 38 federal inmates, three state inmates and two prison guards fled the center, said State Security Secretary Jose Ives Soberón Tijerina.

CEDES is located on the outskirts of Matamoros in the rural community of Santa Adelaida, about 15 miles from Brownsville.

The two prison guards were identified as Jose Angel Reyes Segovia and Agapito Uvalle Escalante.

In response to the escape, Soberón fired CEDES Director Jaime Cano Gallardo and the state director for the detention centers, Orlando Sauceda Pinta.

“They are subject to an investigation,” Soberón said.

Read More