In a brazen display of power, the Gulf Cartel, a notorious criminal organization in Mexico, has once again demonstrated its impunity by discarding the bodies of two victims in a cemetery in Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
This incident underscores the Mexican government's ongoing struggle to curb the escalating cartel violence and the criminal syndicates' control over the country's northern region.
The grim discovery was made earlier this week by a cemetery worker who returned from lunch to find two bodies atop graves he had been preparing. The cemetery, located in the Las Rusias rural community along the Matamoros-Reynosa highway, was once on the city's outskirts but has since been absorbed into the expanding municipality.
The victims, both males estimated to be between 30 and 35 years old, were wrapped in black plastic bags and bore signs of torture. Local media outlets, silenced by the Gulf Cartel's pervasive influence, did not report the crime. The victims remain unidentified, but authorities have documented their tattoos for potential future identification. One victim had an image of St. Jude on his calf, while the other bore several tattoos, including a crucifix, the name Priscila, and various Middle Eastern characters.
This double homicide is suspected to be linked to an internal dispute within the Gulf Cartel. As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel has been locked in a power struggle with a rival faction in Reynosa over control of profitable trafficking routes. This internal conflict, contrary to government officials' assertions of stability, has exacerbated violence in the region, with government forces largely avoiding confrontation with cartel gunmen.
The situation in Matamoros is anticipated to worsen in the coming days. In a recent development, authorities in the neighboring state of Nuevo Leon apprehended Juan Alberto "La Kena" Garcia Vilano, the leader of the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel. Garcia Vilano was arrested at a shopping center while out of town, as reported by Breitbart Texas. His arrest is likely to create a power vacuum, potentially escalating violence in the days ahead.
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