Thursday, March 4, 2010

Mexican Tamaulipas State Officials Denied Deadly Confrontations, But Aftermath Video Proves Otherwise

Photo: Trucks and SUV's marked with side door signs "C.D.G.," the Gulf Cartel frequently roam throughout Mexican border towns and the state of Tamaulipas freely  (Photo Narco Trafico en Mexico)

On Tuesday, several U.S. Consulates and the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey along the U.S. -Mexico border are warning U.S. citizens and officials to avoid travel to Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo because of "several gun battles" recently

By H. Nelson Goodson
March 4, 2010

Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico - Last February 27, the residents of Camargo began to hear gunfire from late Friday around 11:00 p.m. to midnight, and lasting until early morning Saturday at about 6:00 a.m. An unidentified woman went out with her cell phone to video record the aftermath, to dispute previously Mexican local and state official statements that rumors of a drug war between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel for control of the region were untrue. She video taped the gun battle aftermath, next morning while her driver of the vehicle made the rounds throughout the area on the highway. A soldier warned them not to video tape at a check point.
The highway known as the four crossroads, leading to Nuevo Laredo, Camargo, Reynosa and Los Comales is the location where a deadly confrontation between Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel drug took place. A warehouse near Camargo where drug trafickers were stationed was attacked by rival drug trafickers. Few details have been released by Mexican authorities and the U.S. government due to a media blockout of the criminal activity in the region.
The Mexican Defense Department released, that earlier confrontations with Military police reported 4 suspected cartel members had been killed near the city of Matamoros. In another part of the same region, 6 suspected cartel members and one Mexican soldier were killed, and 10 soldiers and a police officer were reported wounded.
Camargo and Reynosa residents have been using Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube to post actual incidents of the feuding cartels carnage and effects it has on their economy along the border towns. 
The Mexican government says residents should check the state goverment web site to get accurate accounts of what is transpiring in the area. A press release dated February 25, Jaime Rodríguez Inurrigarro, the State of Tamaulipas Attorney General with the Department of Justice confirmed there were only rumors and no major battles of deadly confrontations between rival drug cartels have occured in any region of the state or at any area within the capitol. Inurrigarro said, we are following Governor Eugenio Hernández Flores request that all information relating to what is transpiring concerning illicit activities in different regions of the state and the capitol should be made public. (Press Release in Spanish: http://bit.ly/9uRLcH)
But both governments have acknowledged the feuding drug war between both criminal organizations along the border from Reynosa to Nuevo Laredo adjacent to Laredo, Texas.
Last Tuesday, the U.S. Consulate in Reynosa closed temperarily until further notice by Consul Michael Barkin, and the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey have confirmed several gun battles along the U.S.-Mexico border in their warnings to U.S. citizens and officials to avoid travel into Mexico while the drug cartel feuds continue.
The unidentified woman narrated in the video that people living in Camargo heard at least 20 granades go off between 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., including high caliber gunfire. While video taping the aftermath, she saw late model SUV's and semi-trailers riddle with bullets on the side of the highway. Even a couple of gas stations and trucks belonging to a Mexican gasoline company were damaged by gunfire. Several bodies layed on the side of the highway and multiple military vehicles and soldiers were checking vehicles passing through, according to the woman and video (http://bit.ly/9u9GIT).
She said, Camargo once a tourist attraction has ended up with deserted streets and residents are afraid to venture out and are experiencing a siege for more than a week. The mayor of Camargo and the governor of Tamaulipas have downplayed or denied any deadly confrontations in the area, but the video indicates other wise, the unidentified woman said.
Since the siege in Camargo, residents have experienced food shortages, no garbage pickup, utilities, satelite television signals and cable access have been cut off temperarily.
Camargo residents say that trucks and vehicles with initial signs posted on the side doors "C.D.G.," which they say means "The Gulf Cartel" are allowed to roam the streets in Camargo and in the state of Tamaulipas without any intervention by local, state, and federal authorities. A photo of a truck with a sign C.D.G. was posted in the narcotraficoenmexico.blogspot.com, as well as the cell phone video taken by the woman in Camargo.
On Wednesday, KVUE News border bureau reported Mexican military police intercepted a 10-20 convoy of vehicles SUV's with signs on the side marked C.D.G., the confrontation and gun battle between the military police and members of the Gulf Cartel lasted almost two hours. Stratfor, a global intelligence firm reported the Gulf Cartel had kidnapped about 10 municipal police officers at the city of Mier, after attacking a police station. Stratfor says the information came from "human intelligence," citing a media blockout of information by the Mexican government and makes it difficult to confirm.
The recent border drug wars from Reynosa to Nuevo Laredo and other Southern border towns have kept tourists from shopping and crossing into Mexico's border towns and kept school children from attending school in the U.S. last week. Several U.S. International bridges along the Southern border were closed temperarily in late February for fear of a drug war spill over into Texas from Mexico.
On February 26 in Houston, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, 42, drug lord for the Gulf Cartel was sentenced to 25 years in a federal prison by Hilda G. Tagle, federal judge for the United States District Court for Southern Texas. Guillén's conviction has left a void in the leadership of the Gulf Cartel and a drug war to control the Southern Texas border drug trafficking routes between Los Zetas and factions of the Gulf Cartel ignited recently in Mexico's border towns.
Judge Tagle sentenced Gullén after pleading guilty to five counts of drug trafficking, money laundering, and attempted assault and murder of federal authorities during a closed court proceeding, which was closed to the public. Tagle sealed all documents pertaining to Gullén's confession and deal he made, for his cooperation with federal authorities.

Cell phone video of aftermath gun battle between cartels: http://bit.ly/9u9GIT

Related Gulf Cartel article:

Gulf Cartel kingpin sentenced to 25 years in a U.S. federal prison http://bit.ly/c2Nt1Z

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