By H. Nelson Goodson
March 11, 2013
Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico - On Sunday, a furious gun battle between leaders and members of the Gulf Cartel (GC) ignited after one of the main leaders "M4" was gunned down. An internal feud among the GC members was reported by "Valor por Tamaulipas" (VT) Facebook page, which also posted a 15 minute video of the weekend gunfight taken by several residents from Reynosa caught in the middle of it.
Twitter users in the Reynosa area reported more than 50 to 120 killed and numerous people injured, since the internal fight between members of the GC started. The bodies were recovered by the GC. Then the corpses were dispose off.
Sunday's gunfight was first reported by postings on VT Facebook and Twitter users in the Reynosa vicinity. The first postings began around 7:00 p.m., which alerted social news followers of multiple roads blocks, car chases and a gun battle that included several grenade and bazooka blasts that lasted for 45 minutes. The gunbattle spread throughout Reynosa, including in the neighborhood of La Cima where a circus setup was interrupted by a gunfight that resulted in several injuries to innocent people and some circus animals. In the neighborhood of Morelos, moviegoers remained inside the theater for several hours to escape the gunbattle, according to social network postings in the Reynosa region.
The Tamaulipas State Attorney General (PGRE) reported that on Sunday a young child was killed by a stray bullet and his father was seriously injured. Also, that the body of a taxi driver was found with a fatal bullet wound to the neck. Seven suspects were taken into custody and 22 vehicles were confiscated, according to the PGRE. Last week at least 60 homicides were reported in the region within 84 hours.
Twitter users in the Reynosa area reported more than 50 to 120 killed and numerous people injured, since the internal fight between members of the GC started. The bodies were recovered by the GC. Then the corpses were dispose off.
Sunday's gunfight was first reported by postings on VT Facebook and Twitter users in the Reynosa vicinity. The first postings began around 7:00 p.m., which alerted social news followers of multiple roads blocks, car chases and a gun battle that included several grenade and bazooka blasts that lasted for 45 minutes. The gunbattle spread throughout Reynosa, including in the neighborhood of La Cima where a circus setup was interrupted by a gunfight that resulted in several injuries to innocent people and some circus animals. In the neighborhood of Morelos, moviegoers remained inside the theater for several hours to escape the gunbattle, according to social network postings in the Reynosa region.
The Tamaulipas State Attorney General (PGRE) reported that on Sunday a young child was killed by a stray bullet and his father was seriously injured. Also, that the body of a taxi driver was found with a fatal bullet wound to the neck. Seven suspects were taken into custody and 22 vehicles were confiscated, according to the PGRE. Last week at least 60 homicides were reported in the region within 84 hours.
Earlier reports of armed gunmen in multiple vehicles traveling in the area with decals M3 and M4, including GC on windows were reported by VT. The gunfight allegedly began after M4 was reported killed about a month ago by another leader of the GC or same drug cartel who was identified only by "El Gringo." According to the VT report, M4 was executed shortly after getting into a dispute with another leader known as "El Comandante Cortez" forcing "El Comandante Gringo" to join the armed assault, in an attempt to take over the split faction of the GC in Reynosa.
Killing M4 led to a retaliation by "El Puma" who is Cortez' son. El Puma apparently is now feuding with his dad over the control of Reynosa and has turned into a family war. El Gringo sided with the Cortez GC faction, but was allegedly killed in the confrontation with El Puma GC faction. Cortez could have also been killed over the weekend.
One of the Facebook (FB) users posted a comment on VT accusing El Gringo of crossing sides and joining Los Zetas. Both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been feuding for several years in an attempt to take control of the multi-million drug cartel bordertown routes.
Killing M4 led to a retaliation by "El Puma" who is Cortez' son. El Puma apparently is now feuding with his dad over the control of Reynosa and has turned into a family war. El Gringo sided with the Cortez GC faction, but was allegedly killed in the confrontation with El Puma GC faction. Cortez could have also been killed over the weekend.
One of the Facebook (FB) users posted a comment on VT accusing El Gringo of crossing sides and joining Los Zetas. Both Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel have been feuding for several years in an attempt to take control of the multi-million drug cartel bordertown routes.
The Sinaloa drug cartel headed by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera has also been trying to take control of the state of Tamaulipas in order to control the routes headed into the U.S.
The GC was able to send reinforcements to Reynosa from nearby cities, small towns or municipalities they control and more blood shed between the GC factions and Los Zetas is expected to escalate during the week.
Police sirens and ETM ambulances could be heard going into the GC battle scene. The Mexican military also arrived at the scene and the battle between the GC factions temporarily died down.
Photos courtesy of Valor por Tamaulipas.
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