Tamaulipas: Authorities Confirm the Deaths of 14 in Wave of Violence

Translated by Valor for Borderland Beat

Ciudad Victoria saw a violent day Saturday as various news outlets reported that the “drug war” between organized crime groups had left 14 people dead, and at least four wounded.

The Secretary General of the Government of Tamaulipas, Herminio Garza Palacios, confirmed the deaths of 14 people during a violent day that took place on Saturday in the state.

“We had two unfortunate incidents in Ciudad Victoria, at 7am in a house located in the extension López Mateos, in the capital city, there were 11 members of a family who were deprived of their lives by armed people,” he said.

He specified that 11 people were members of a family that included two adult men and nine women, among them two minors.

The secretary general reported that the victims were identified as Gregoria García Amaya, María del Rosario Carrizales Amaya, Griselda Carrizales Amaya, María Cirila Contreras García, Galilea and Mariana García Amaya, María Pizaña Carrizales, Estefanía Guadalupe Pizaña Carrizales, Raymunda Amaya Contreras, Cruz Felipe Pizaña Saldivar and Angel Daniel Carrizales Amaya.

In a second incident, gunmen entered a house wounding three members of a family and deprived the lives of three others.  The victims were identified as Miguel Ángel Mendoza Día, Mara Campillo Mata and Estefanía Martínez Díaz.

He added that federal forces are working together to take appropriate action to find those responsible.

According to ministerial police reports that the Associated Press had access to, it indicates that during Friday night and early Saturday morning, there were more attacks in different parts of the city.

One of those attacks occurred in the urban truck terminal, where a 16 year old youth died, while in another incident, a house was attacked with grenades and was subsequently torched.

The wave of violence is part of the “drug war” for the control of Ciudad Victoria by the Cártel del Noreste and the group calling itself Zetas Vieja Escuela,” says the newspaper El Mañana.

According to local media, authorities came at dawn [on Saturday] to the neighborhood Ampliación Adolfo López Mateos, since the house located on Privada Itace #50 Street, between the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas and the Escuela Normal Superior of Tamaulipas, were reports about the murder of 10 members of a family and four wounded.

In other events that took place on Pamoranes de la Colonia Revolución Verde Street, the authorities were alerted about four people who were “executed” by an armed group.

Furthermore, at the stroke of 23:00 hours, a youth whose identity is unknown was murdered in an OXXO convenience store.

In addition, the page Valor por Tamaulipas mentions some of the events that took place during the morning.  At 23:00 hours, there were reports of someone shot and injured in Eje vial y Mina; at 00:30 hours, someone shot and wounded in the bar El 5 Bravo; at 01:30 hours, someone executed in the neighborhood Benito Juárez; at 02:34 hours, two teenagers assaulted, and at least one of them died in the neighborhood Echeverría.

According to information from its website, the first reports of 7am confirmed the deaths of 14 people who were apparently executed, among them two minors.

Finally, Valor por Tamaulipas shared the image of a narco-message that threatens Ciudad Victoria, it reads: “Every day will be like this, under the orders of the Sr. [El Señor].  ATT. CDN Commander GAFE.”

For its part, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in its most recent report in 2014, reports that the state of Tamaulipas presented a victimization rate amounting to 23,339 per 100,000 inhabitants, which means that there is a considerable prevalence of crimes that affect homes and businesses.

The institute reports that the alleged uncommon and federal crimes registered in interventions by the police until 2012, were attended by the state police 99% of times and that the remaining 1% were responded to by the local security force.

In addition, the Semáforo Delictivo (Criminal Signal) reports that Tamaulipas, compared with other states and for the month of May 2016, had a rate of 1.3 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.  It similarly refers to Ciudad Victoria, for 2015, had a homicide rate of 17.4% per 100,000 inhabitants, a situation that makes it the third most dangerous city in the state, only below Matamoros (23.9%) and Nuevo Laredo (19.5%).

The Center for Development Research A.C. (CIDAC), through its crime rate updated until 2013, reports that Tamaulipas has a rate of 67.4% per 100,000 inhabitants in terms of involvement of the institution, not only the incidence or occurrence of crimes, but also the weight of each in the perception of insecurity.

Tamaulipas, on the northern border of Mexico, is one of the most affected states by organized crime and, to date, the only state with two former governors who are wanted by the United States.

The Mexican government and local media remain silent as cartel violence and killings have become commonplace in the city of Tamaulipas, under the constant clashes between two rival drug cartel groups of Los Zetas that continue to fight for control.

Source: Sin Embargo

Categories: ciudad victoria, Drug War, mexico, tamaulipas, violence