Gunmen with the Gulf Cartel are believed to be responsible for a series of attacks just days after authorities arrested a regional leader from that criminal organization.
The attacks took place over the weekend in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, where at least four state law enforcement officers were injured. The violence is attributed to the recent capture of a regional figure who controlled the central part of Tamaulipas for the Gulf Cartel. The Gulf Cartel is one of six drug gangs designated by the U.S. Department of State as foreign terrorist organizations.
The violence began on Friday afternoon and continued into the weekend. In one of those attacks, along Avenida Del Nino, one of the main avenues in the city, gunmen carried out a series of ambush-style attacks on members of the Tamaulipas State Guard and investigators with the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office (FGJE). In one of those attacks, the gunmen managed to pin down a group of state guardsmen, who sustained multiple injuries. A team of FGJE investigators rushed in to help.
As their vehicle became disabled from the gunfire, FGJE agent Carlos Fabian Alvarado rushed in on foot to push while fellow investigators provided covering fire. Authorities helped the wounded officers; however, during one of the exchanges, the 24-year-old Alvarado sustained a gunshot to the face that has left him in a critical state.
The attacks on the lawmen in Matamoros come just days after authorities arrested Valentin “El Ferras” Martinez Garcia, the regional leader of the Gulf Cartel for Ciudad Victoria. The arrest took place during a short clash between state forces and gunmen near Matamoros. The man known as El Ferras was linked to the rise of violence in the central part of the state and had been listed as a most wanted fugitive in Tamaulipas.
La @SEMAR_mx detuvo a jefe de plaza Valentín Ferras Lucio alias “El Ferras” de #CdVictoria en #Matamoros. Aseguraron arma corta, cartuchos. En el poblado el Galaneño detuvieron a cuatro con camionetas y armamento. Lo asegurado a disposición de la @FGRMexico pic.twitter.com/PLIIyH9jAO
— ElGuzman (@FuriaNegra77) May 28, 2025
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s 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 News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at
