Gulf Cartel Members Burn Semi-Trucks on Reynosa-Pharr Border Bridge

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Amidst suspended border traffic due to trucker protests of Texas Gov. Abott's increased commercial inspections, members of the Gulf Cartel were arrested after setting fire to tractor-trailer trucks.

After the fire of three cargo trucks stranded on the Reynosa-Pharr International Bridge, Tamaulipas authorities arrested three alleged members of the Gulf Cartel who participated in the actions that led to the release of the road. According to security reports, state police arrested the subjects without weapons, despite the fact that local reports had indicated that the alleged members of organized crime showed up to attack the drivers.

Until 4:30 p.m. on April 13, official reports indicated that the agents chased a group of trucks, as they were suspected of intervening in the acts of violence near Colosio Boulevard. Upon reaching them, the subjects were secured without weapons, and the unit in which they were traveling was also seized. While another abandoned unit was seized as well. In the operation, there were no confrontations with firearms and the situation was under control three hours after the first reports of risk.

Presumably, those identified as members of the Gulf Cartel arrived at noon and burned a trailer at the top of the overpass, on International Avenue and the Reynosa-Matamoros bypass. Another tractor-trailer was located on the edge of the Río Bravo-Reynosa highway. Nearby, another vehicle was set on fire, in the vicinity of the Colonial Industrial Park, on bypass 2 Sur. Devices known as punchallantas were thrown in the surroundings.

Border Traffic Had Been Suspended

Traffic on the international bridge has been suspended for the last three days as a form of protest against the measures of the governor of the state of Texas, Greg Abbott. But given the recent episodes of violence, the drivers who were blocking the road decided to negotiate to withdraw and restore traffic, which has been slow due to the provisions.

As reported by Borderland Beat, the Texas Governor ordered to stop and inspect all trucks and buses that cross from Mexico to the United States, with the argument of reinforcing immigration control and border security measures to prevent the illegal movement of migrants and drugs.

The Mexican private sector estimated losses of up to $8 million dollars a day due to Governor Abbott's regulations. Various chambers of the business sector assured that this measure is generating an economic impact and operating cost overruns, mainly affecting the maquiladora, automotive, technology, and perishable industries, among others.

“Situation that has caused delays of up to 20 hours in the crossing of cargo trucks and a drop of more than 70% in the commercial flow and that can cause a collapse in cross-border international trade,” they warned. On the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge, they dispatch up to 3 thousand trucks per day, for an approximate 18 thousand units per week. But with the new measures, only between 500 and 700 trucks per day were dispatched.

The drivers of cargo vehicles that were in the area witnessed detonations by firearms, although the Tamaulipas Public Security Secretariat reiterated that there were no detonations in the deployment in that its agents participated. Meanwhile, the protesters valued that it was better to be safe.

According to local reports, the intervention of the criminal group was evidenced, because they did not attack trailers located near the intersection that corresponded to the protest but rather attacked units that were parked along the section that goes to Texas.

Reynosa is besieged by various cells of the Gulf Cartel, mainly the armed groups of Los Ciclones, Escorpiones, and Los Metros, remnants of the criminal organization that emerged in the mid-1980s and has a stronghold in Matamoros.

Preliminary versions of the burning of trucks at the Tamaulipas crossing indicate that the criminals were pressured not to see their interests in drug trafficking affected, although they were also linked to the transport of illegal persons to US territory.

Source Infobae