Authorities in the border state of Tamaulipas are trying to downplay a series of kidnappings and cartel killings in the central part of the state. The violence comes as one faction of the Gulf Cartel makes a push to expand their territories into the central part of the state.
The gruesome discovery took place last Friday just north of Ciudad Victoria, the Tamaulipas state capital. State police officers chased a group of gunmen who were riding in two vehicles. During the chase, both sides exchanged gunfire. It remains unclear how many of the gunmen managed to escape. During a manhunt by authorities, officers pulled up to a shack in the rural town of Santa Rosa.
Inside the house, authorities found the bodies of six victims who had been tied up and executed. The victims showed signs of torture. While securing the crime scene, authorities found 30-year-old Daniel Sevilla Maldonado, who had managed to escape from the house and was trying to get help. Sevilla had been tied up and showed signs of torture. He claimed to have been kidnapped by gunmen and held in the house where the gunmen had been killing several victims.
As part of the ongoing investigation, authorities are trying to determine if the six victims are part of a group of more than 12 laborers who went missing in the town of San Carlos early last week. The laborers traveled there on their way to the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon in search of work. San Carlos is a town under the control of the Pedro J. Mendez Armed Column, a faction of the Gulf Cartel that masquerades as a self-defense group and has been a political supporter of current state governor Americo Villarreal.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “Francisco Morales” from Tamaulipas. |
