Cartel Violence Continues after Federal Police Withdrawal Near Texas Border
REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Cartel gunmen are taking advantage of the withdrawal of hundreds of Mexican Federal Police officers in order to return to their violent ways. The uptick in violence has resulted in the ambush of a Mexican soldier who died anonymously as the government continues its silence.
In recent days, hundreds of Federal police officers who had been sent to the border to carry out enforcement operations have withdrawn permanently without a real reason being given. Various government officials claim that the troop pullout marks the end of a phase in an ongoing security strategy. Breitbart Texas spoke with local residents who claim that cartel activity continues on the city’s outskirts, unimpeded.
In this border city, the lack of a competent police force to face off against cartels has left the task of securing the region to Mexican soldiers and marines, as well as federal and state officers.
Almost immediately after law enforcement began to withdraw, Gulf Cartel gunmen attacked a military truck, fatally injuring the driver. The wounded soldier was rushed by emergency personnel to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.
The Mexican government has not issued any news releases or official information about the attack on the troops or the soldier’s murder. Despite the silence by government officials, citizen journalists were quick to circulate messages and photos paying their respect to the fallen soldier identified only as “Piscacha”.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican 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 in their original Spanish. This article was written by “A.C. Del Angel” from Reynosa and Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz.