Mexico: Warring Cartels Block Roads Near U.S. Border

The fighting between some of Mexico's feuding drug cartels in the border city of Matamoros intensified as they blocked off several roads on Tuesday.

The warring cartel members used other cars to block traffic as they continued their feuds against one another. This includes cartel gunmen forcing middle-school students off a school bus at gunpoint and using it to blockade the road. The children were reportedly unharmed, according to police.

This happened around a dozen points across Matamoros, which is found right across Brownsville, Texas. Gunmen reportedly carjacked cars and forced drivers and passengers off as they used the vehicles to block roadways.

However, the Associated Press reported that officials quickly cleared the roads on Tuesday morning. There was one reported death, though it was not related to the drug cartels' blockades, according to official Mexican reports.

Tamaulipas state officials said that these blockades were caused by battles between two rival cartels. State police chief Sergio Hernando Chavez spoke at a news conference and stated there was "a confrontation between rival organized crime groups."

However, they did not officially identify which of the cartels operating in the area were responsible for the blockades. The most likely is the Gulf Cartel, which was responsible for the kidnapping of four Americans and the deaths of two of them earlier this year.

Matamoros is known to be their stronghold, and it has long dominated the city. The cartel is reportedly allied with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) right now, and infighting within the cartel has made it splinter into different factions.

Matamoros and the Gulf Cartel

While the Gulf Cartel usually lived in the shadows of its more infamous counterparts, like the CJNG and the Sinaloa Cartel, the kidnapping of the four Americans placed a spotlight on them and their activities in Matamoros.

The attack on the Americans was reportedly made by the Scorpions faction of the deadly drug cartel, though it may have been a case of mistaken identity as the cartel members reportedly thought that the victims were Haitian drug mules.

The cartel has had a strong grip on Tamaulipas state, though it has soon splintered into rival factions after their leaders fell to authorities both in the United States and in Mexico.

After Gulf Cartel leader Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez, also known as "The Accountant," was arrested, his replacement, Jose Alberto Garcia Villano, took over the operations in Matamoros. Garcia Villano, the alleged leader of the Scorpions faction, is reportedly linked to the kidnapping of the four Americans, according to Insight Crime.

Life Under Control of a Deadly Drug Cartel in Matamoros

Things have changed in Matamoros, with things growing even more violent through the years with the drug cartels slowly taking over. According to NPR, the members of the cartel, as called "old men" and citizens, do their best to get out of their way in Matamoros.

Several NPR guests have pointed out that the Gulf Cartel controls a lot in Matamoros, including the sales of cigarettes, as well as chicken, eggs, avocadoes, and beer. "For example, they came to your shop and say you cannot sell cigarettes," said one guest, with another adding, "They told shopkeepers, if you want to live, you can buy only the cigarettes we sell you, and at this price."

READ MORE: Mexico Kidnapping: Mourners Gathered for American Man Killed by the Gulf Cartel

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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