Cartel Gunmen in Mexico Take Hostages After Attack on Border State Police

A group of Gulf Cartel gunmen took two women hostage during a standoff with police in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The standoff came as the gunmen tried to escape from authorities after ambushing a group of police officers.

The incident occurred on Sunday in the Campanario neighborhood on the city’s southeast side. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Tamaulipas state authorities, a group of gunmen tried to carry out an ambush-style attack on police officers but failed and tried to escape.

The failed ambush came just one day after as Breitbart Texas reported, a group of gunmen ambushed and killed two police officers in Reynosa.

After the failed ambush, the gunmen fled in different directions. Authorities followed a dark-colored Honda Pilot with three gunmen inside that moved toward the Campanario neighborhood. The gunmen left the vehicle and went inside one of the houses where they held two women hostage during a tense standoff with police. Police eventually arrested the gunmen after the women were released.

The case comes after a weekend full of violence in Reynosa that included several shootouts and violent attacks while rival factions of the Gulf Cartel wage a fierce turf war to control lucrative drug and human smuggling routes into Texas. Government officials at the state and federal levels tried to deny several of the confrontations and actively worked to minimize the appearance of violence in Reynosa so as to not scare away tourism and commerce.

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

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 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

“J.C. Sanchez” and “Francisco Morales”  from Tamaulipas contributed to this report.