Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed that his government has been protecting truckers for a long time in the border state of Tamaulipas and that they are safe. The comment comes just days after the Gulf Cartel carjacked more than 15 tractor-trailers and forced the drivers to dump the fuel they were carrying for not having paid protection.
During his morning news conference, Lopez Obrador blamed news organizations and conservatives for a series of videos that showed gunmen from the Escoriones faction of the Gulf Cartel lining up the carjacked tractor-trailers and forcing the drivers to dump thousands of gallons of fuel. As Breitbart Texas reported, the gunmen recorded their actions and leaked the videos while claiming the carjackings had been carried out because the drivers had not paid protection fees.
Cartel Chronicles“We have always been protecting them in Tamaulipas,” Lopez Obrador said. “We have been there to protect them, so they don’t make them buy stolen fuel or smuggled, and we are acting with the Defense Secretariat and the National Guard. But this is also a lot of propaganda from the conservatives and the news media.”
According to the Mexican president, his administration focused on fighting fuel theft and its underground distribution, which he claimed was not done in previous administrations.
Lopez Obrador did not mention that several members of his party, including current Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal, had their campaigns paid in part with money from the underground fuel market. As Breitbart Texas reported, many organized crime connections became public following the 2021 murder of Sergio Carmona — a fuel theft mogul who was one of the biggest campaign contributors to members of the MORENA party. Since then, various political figures directly accused Villarreal and other MORENA party members of working with fuel theft organizations and drug cartels, Breitbart Texas reported.
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
