Gunmen Kill Mexican Border City Business Leader Who Spoke Out Against Cartels

A group of gunmen shot and killed a business leader in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas. The businessman gained national notoriety for being very outspoken about cartel extortions, crime, violence, and the widespread corruption in the border state of Tamaulipas.

The murder took place on Tuesday afternoon outside of the offices of the local chapter of the National Chamber of Commerce in the Buena Vista neighborhood in Matamoros. Business leader Julio Cesar Almanza Armas was parking his white SUV outside of his office when a group of gunmen went up to him and fired at least eight shots through the vehicle’s driver-side window.

The gunfire struck him multiple times in the head. The gunmen fled the scene before authorities could arrive.

Just hours before being killed, Almanza had been speaking spoke to various news outlets in Mexico about a story first reported on Breitbart Texas detailing how almost 200 convenience stores in the border city of Nuevo Laredo had been forced to close due to threats from the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas.

It remains unclear if a drug cartel was behind Almanza’s killing. However, the city of Matamoros has always been controlled by the Gulf Cartel. Almanza has a long history of calling out the Gulf Cartel and other criminal organizations over prior extortions and threats to business owners in the city. Almanza also called out current and prior governor and numerous corrupt local politicians, including former mayors, over their lack of action in protecting businesses in Tamaulipas.

The Tamaulipas government initially tried to downplay the killing, calling it an incident. Once word got out that the victim was a high-profile individual, they issued a short statement confirming the killing.

By Tuesday evening, Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal sent out a social media message expressing his condolences and sending empty promises of devoting resources to solving the killing.

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..