Mexican government officials have falsified crime statistics and made misleading statements to the press in an effort to create a sense of peace in the border state of Tamaulipas, when in reality multiple drug cartels are locked in a fierce turf war in the state. Violence has soared in recent weeks as the cartels have become more emboldened.
The information vacuum created by the Tamaulipas state government, the high risk of reporting on drug cartels, and pressure from government officials have forced established media outlets to back off reporting on the growing crime wave. In recent weeks, local residents have once again turned to social media pages as their only source of information on high-impact crimes, including kidnappings, extortion, carjackings, and drug cartel shootouts.
So far this month, violence has been rampant in Tamaulipas cities including Reynosa, Rio Bravo, San Fernando and Abasolo, where armed men have been seen roaming the streets in motorcades in armored vehicles with no state or federal authorities in sight.
(Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)
The Tamaulipas state government has attempted to further minimize the perception of violence by regularly posting messages on social media highlighting days without murders or other serious crimes, but such claims do not hold up in comparison to the frequent shootouts and other violent incidents that occur across the state.
️ | #VoceríaInforma
The registrant is guilty of murder or other criminal mischief. #Tamaulipas Within the last 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/hZJlyIo1N5
— Voceria de Seguridad Tamaulipas (@VoceriaSegTamps) August 26, 2024
As Breitbart Texas reported, the Tamaulipas state government ended up ignoring a travel warning issued by the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros, which warned of armed men kidnapping U.S. citizens and residents and demanding thousands of dollars for their release. Tamaulipas government officials argued that the travel warning was unreliable because it was based on hearsay, not statistics.
(Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)
Gunmen this week set fire to two trailers loaded with clothing as they traveled through San Fernando because the goods' owners hadn't paid protection money. In other parts of the state, drug cartels are trying to impose a tax on every vehicle sold by individuals, threatening, kidnapping and even killing those who don't pay.
A threat left by the Cartel del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, warning that those who do not pay cartel taxes on car sales will suffer a similar fate (Credit: Breitbart Texas / Cartel Chronicles)
Government authorities tried to hide information about this and similar incidents, treating them as highway accidents.
Editor's note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City, Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives to expose the cartels that are silencing their communities. If they did not use pseudonyms, the reporters would surely face death at the hands of the various cartels operating in these regions, including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. Breitbart Texas Cartel Record Published in both English and the original SpanishThis article was written by “JA Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.
