VIDEO: Border City Residents in Mexico Protest Disappearance of Arrested Teens
CIUDAD MIER, Tamaulipas – Several residents in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas took to the streets to protest the disappearance of two underage teenagers from Ciudad Mier. Police arrested the two teens on traffic violations but have since gone missing. Various social media posts claimed the teens worked as cartel lookouts at the time of their disappearance.
Outraged residents took to the streets and blocked off the main highway in Ciudad Mier that runs through that city. The demonstrators demanded answers from state and local officials, video from the protest showed. When the group blocked the streets, they set fire to several tires as a way to block traffic. While the protests were not violent, state and local authorities responded in case they escalated.
According to relatives, police arrested the teens in Ciudad Mier in connection to a traffic violation. The cops turned the pair over to transit authorities in the nearby border city of Miguel Aleman. Once there, the teens were allegedly turned over to organized crime members and remain missing.
It remains unclear if the missing teens are connected to or worked as lookouts for one of the criminal organizations that operate in the area. Authorities did not yet release an official version of events.
Miguel Aleman is immediately south of Roma, Texas and, along with Ciudad Mier, Los Guerra and other smaller towns, make up the region known as La Riberena or The Riverfront. That region is considered the main drug and human smuggling corridors used by the Gulf Cartel to enter Texas. That strategic location has turned the region into a prize that the Gulf Cartel’s Rival, Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas, has been trying to lay claim to. That fierce turf war has escalated to the point where both drug cartels deployed armored trucks, explosives, and heavy firepower during their clashes.
Drug Cartels Deliver Holiday Toys, Pastries Throughout Mexico
Drug cartels delivered toys and pastries to needy families throughout Mexico during the Epiphany celebration in yet another attempt to improve their public image. The very public outreach efforts come as Mexico’s government remains unable to curb the escalating violence taking place across the country.
In several parts of Mexico, the celebration of the Epiphany is known as the Día de Reyes or the “Day of the Kings.” Children routinely receive toys while adults share a pastry known as Rosca de Reyes, similar to Kings Bread.
As Breitbart Texas reported, one faction of the Gulf Cartel delivered several pastries in the town of El Mezquital, near Matamoros. Soon after, a state police officer was quoted by local media claiming that they had been patrolling the roads and the Gulf Cartel had not delivered pastries or presents.
Dice el Sub Oficial Carlos Adrián Portales Barrón, Delegado Regional de la Policía Estatal en Matamoros, Tamaulipas que es falso que hayan repartido juguetes y roscas en #Matamoros, #Tamaulipas integrantes del crimen organizado. Que ellos estuvieron patrullando. pic.twitter.com/ThlAQx6MAF
— ElGuzman (@FuriaNegra7) January 7, 2021
Those claims have since been disproven by numerous photographs taken by members of the Titan group of the Gulf Cartel as they delivered pastries and presents to families not only in El Mezquital, but also to several rural communities near the border town of Nuevo Progreso.
Just like the Gulf Cartel, in the Western state of Michoacán, gunmen claiming to be with Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG) delivered toys to needy families in the town of El Aguaje. That region witnessed extensive fighting as CJNG attempts to take key territories away from an alliance known as Carteles Unidos — including Los Viagras, Familia Michoacana, and several “self-defense” groups.
Luego de expulsar a los Carteles Unidos de “El Aguaje” en Michoacan, El Jalisco Nueva Generación repartió juguetes a niños de bajos recursos en esa localidad, hombres portando las siglas visibles del cartel hicieron entrega de juguetes y dinero en efectivo. @Jalisciense1c pic.twitter.com/cYAr9ZmcG6
— 1988 (@Jabon83171034) January 7, 2021
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
GRAPHIC: Cartel Gunmen Kill 9 During Wake in Central Mexico
A group of cartel gunmen killed nine victims and injured another during a brazen attack at a home. People in the home gathered for a funerary wake in the central Mexico state of Guanajuato.
The mass shooting took place on Thursday night when a group of gunmen stormed a home in the Arboledas de San Andres neighborhood in the city of Celaya, Guanajuato. The state Public Security Secretariat confirmed nine victims had died in the attack. A tenth person sustained a critical injury.
According to the local news outlet Periodico Correo, neighbors claimed they heard more than 100 shots, some sounding like automatic fire. The gunman managed to escape before authorities arrived at the scene.
Responding paramedics found the victims inside and outside the home in pools of blood while searching for survivors. Details of who the wake was for and their cause of death remain unclear. However, the mass shooting comes at a time when an ongoing turf war between rival drug cartels turned the once peaceful state into the most violent region in Mexico.
Since the start of the year, the turf war between the remnants of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion led to approximately 60 murders.
Tony Aranda is a contributing writer for Breitbart Texas.
Jose Luis Lara and “J.C. Sanchez” from Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project contributed to this report
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