As Mexico’s government continues to be unable to address the raging cartel violence and the control that criminal organizations have over the northern part of the country, the Gulf Cartel once again flexed its muscles with complete impunity by dumping the bodies of two of their victims in a cemetery.
The incident took place this week in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The Gulf Cartel fully controls this city, and they have been able to silence local news outlets into not covering their crimes. Earlier this week, a worker at the Santa Cruz cemetery returned from his lunch break to find two bodies on top of two graves that he was in the process of digging.
The cemetery is in the Las Rusias rural community, along the Matamoros-Reynosa highway. This area used to be outside the city but has since become part of the growing municipality.
The two men were wrapped in black plastic bags, showed signs of torture, and appeared to be between 30 and 35 years old. Local news outlets did not report on the crime.
While the men have not been identified, authorities recorded their tattoos to use them for identification purposes in the future. One of the men had an image of St. Jude on his calf, while the other had several tattoos, including a crucifix, the name Priscila, and various Middle Eastern characters.
The double murder is believed to be tied to internal conflict within the Gulf Cartel. As Breitbart Texas reported, the Gulf Cartel faction in Matamoros has been fighting with the rival faction in Reynosa for control of lucrative trafficking routes — despite false claims by government officials that all is well. This turf war led to expanded violence in the region while government officials have largely avoided clashing with cartel gunmen.
The violence in Matamoros is expected to spike in the coming days since, just days after the double murder, authorities in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon arrested the leader of the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel, Juan Alberto “La Kena” Garcia Vilano. As Breitbart Texas reported, the crime boss was out of town at a shopping center when authorities caught him. His arrest is expected to create a power vacuum that could escalate violence in the coming days.
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
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
