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In the early dawn's orange glow, a Texas Rangers commander briefs a heavily armed invasion force. They're preparing to seize a remote, 170-acre Mexican cartel-controlled island in the middle of the Rio Grande River overlooked by sniper nests and potentially booby-trapped. Some of the dozens of assembled men shift from one foot to another or reposition their M-4 rifles as they listen to their commanders' instructions. 'Keep a close eye on those structures up there that have height advantage on us,' he warns. 'In case we do get engaged and someone is shot' medical evacuation plans are in place and...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Federal authorities arrested a leading lieutenant with Mexico’s Gulf Cartel in Texas after he illegally snuck across the Rio Grande to enter the United States. Law enforcement agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had their sights on the cartel cell leader for some time in connection with multiple drug shipments allegedly linked to him. U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Rene “El Diablo” Garcia Cantu near La Paloma, Texas, after he illegally entered the country in a remote rural area. During a background check, agents determined that Garcia Cantu is the target of an ongoing DEA...

One of the men suspected of controlling the smuggling of migrants for the Gulf Cartel was previously arrested by U.S. authorities and released 15 days later on a single immigration charge. The man is considered one of the cartel’s most violent enforcers in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. As Breitbart News exclusively reported, Hector “La Mimi or M-22” Sanchez Rivera is currently a leading enforcer for the Gulf Cartel along with his brother, Ernesto. They are directly responsible for controlling the smuggling of migrants from Gulf Cartel territory in Mexico to South Texas. The duo fostered a reputation for violence and is linked...

The abduction of a U.S. anti-kidnap expert in northern Mexico last month remains a mystery with no clues to the man's whereabouts and no ransom demanded by his captors, police said on Monday. Gunmen abducted Felix Batista,a Cuban-American credited with negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombian rebels in past years, in the relatively safe industrial city of Saltillo,Coahuila state,on Dec 10. "We have not had contact with Batista or those who took him," an official at the Coahuila attorney general's office said. Another official said last month the attorney general suspected drug gangs who wanted to show their...

Despite the capture of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the criminal group continues to export "wholesale" quantities of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl through crossing points located along the Mexican-California border: AZ, NM, and W. Texas.... the Sinaloa cartel "maintains an international expansionary footprint" in comparison with other groups, says the Drug Control Administration (DEA) in its annual report on drug trafficking which was published this Friday. SINALOA- continues to export "wholesale" amounts of methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl through crossing points located along the Mexican border .... These drugs are distributed in cities such as Chicago, Phoenix, Los...

MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas — The failed strategy by the Mexican government has created a new issue in this border city where organized crime has tried to diminish common crime in an effort to lower public attention. Drug cartels appear to be succeeding in lowering common crime, something that the State of Tamaulipas has failed in. “They cut my fingers off for being a thief,” the tattoo on the forehead of a suspected criminal explained. Information obtained by this outlet points to the victim being connected to a series of burglaries in the city. His kidnapping and torture appear to be a...

A group of Gulf Cartel gunmen murdered a grandmother, her son, and her three grandchildren—one of them only 10-years-old—in the latest chapter of inhuman horror taking place just south of the Texas border. The murder took place Wednesday night in a rural community known as La Soledad in the border city of Rio Bravo not far from the banks of the Rio Grande. The victims were identified as 65-year-old Vicenta Garcia Sanchez, her son, 39-year-old Fidel Martinez Garcia, and her three grandchildren: 19-year-old Fidel, 15-year-old Alexis, and 10-year-old Pedro... a group of hitmen went to the area and dragged the...

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – The Gulf Cartel made $38 million smuggling illegal aliens during last year’s immigration surge, taking advantage of the situation to smuggle tons of drugs with little intervention by authorities. The quantification of the cartel’s involvement was made in a report by the top law enforcement agency in Texas. As previously reported by Breitbart Texas, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) had prepared the report to inform lawmakers about the border surge, the potential for terrorists, and the funding needs of the agency. The report had initially been leaked by the Houston Chronicle; however that publication mainly...

The city of Matamoros is under a virtual state of siege following two days of shootouts blockades and panic related to yet another ongoing struggle within the Gulf Cartel. The shootouts began early Sunday morning and spread throughout the day leaving at least 13 gunmen dead, which state officials confirmed, however that figure appears to be relatively low because of the intensity of the shootouts. On Monday afternoon, Mayor Leticia Salazar issued a statement warning the public to stay indoors because of the expected outburst of violence. “At this point based on the information provided by federal authorities we are...

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the agents of the Gulf cartel claimed to be a police officer and handcuffed the man. The victim’s wife thought police had taken her husband, but when she called the local Texas authorities, she discovered that they had not arrested her husband. The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the victim was beaten, blindfolded, gagged, and bound in duct tape. He was taken by the agents of the Gulf cartel to a nearby ranch on U.S. soil. Only then, say authorities, did the kidnappers realize they had taken an innocent man and that the victim was...

Authorities have confirmed that one gunman has been wounded and that five kidnapping victims have been rescued following a Wednesday afternoon shootout in a busy downtown Reynosa shopping district. Mexico's Ministry of National Defense (SEDENA) confirmed that a shootout took place in the "peatonal" or "pedestrian shopping area" of downtown Reynosa on Wednesday afternoon. SEDENA officials reported that soldiers were in the area when they came under fire from an unknown number of men. Reynosa residents reported the gunfire on the social media network Twitter. SEDENA officials reported that shootout ended with one gunman being wounded and five alleged kidnapping...

More than 130 inmates escaped through a tunnel from a Mexican prison on the border with the United States in one of the worst jailbreaks the country's beleaguered penal system has suffered in recent years. Homero Ramos, attorney general of the northern state of Coahuila, said 132 inmates of the prison in the city of Piedras Negras had got out through the tunnel in an old carpentry workshop, then cut the wire surrounding the complex. Corrupt prison officials may have helped the inmates escape ... At the end of 2010, more than 140 inmates escaped a prison in the border...

BROWNSVILLE — A Mexican businessman is the target of a federal probe alleging widespread money laundering that involves the Gulf Cartel and a former Tamaulipas governor who owns a condiminium on South Padre Island. Fernando Alejandro Cano Martinez, 55, of Ciudad Victoria, Tamps., is charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments since on or about Jan. 1, 1998. The indictment alleges Cano and others conspired to use an array of corporate entities they formed in Texas to launder portions of bribes paid by the Gulf Cartel to high level elected officials and candidates for such elected office in Tamaulipas. Millions...

Authorities are on the lookout for two former Gulf Cartel members who they believe have been targeted for assassination. Records obtained by Action 4 News show that Gumercindo Gamez-Villarreal and Miguel Garcia-Rodriguez are former Gulf Cartel members. The two men left the cartel but are believed to be hiding out in the Alton and Palmhurst area of Hidalgo County. The records show that both men are believed to have stolen illegal drugs from Gulf Cartel smugglers in the Rio Grande Valley. According to the records, both Gamez-Villarreal and Garcia-Rodriguez have reportedly targeted for assassination by the cartel. Both men are...

NEAR ALTON — Two men stepped down from a white truck at a house near Alton. A pair of Jeeps pulled up close behind. It was Memorial Day weekend 2011. The truck’s driver said he was a policeman, complete with handcuffs, a pistol and an embroidered shirt. He wasn’t a cop. But he handcuffed Ovidio Olivares Guerrero and loaded him into the truck and drove off, court records state. Guerrero hasn’t been seen since the pseudocops took him from his cousin’s house that day. And court records suggest he wasn’t even the target of a Gulf Cartel-ordered kidnapping. Olivares’ wife,...

<p>Four days before his Houston crew allegedly killed a federal informant and tried to hijack a load of pot, Eric De Luna was stopped by police as he a left a stash house, where officers found assault rifles and bulk narcotics.</p>

WESLACO - Cartels only care about getting their product from Mexico into the U.S. One cartel member tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS they won't let anything stop them, even if it means torturing people. "I've never killed," the mans tell us. "I've seen how they do it. They kill anybody." He wants out of the cartel, but death is almost always the only way out. He's telling his story from the shadows. "They never let you move up. You are just working, working, working, and that's it," he describes. The man tells CHANNEL 5 NEWS the cartel bosses make the big...

WESLACO - Another high-ranking Gulf Cartel boss is in custody in the Valley. Border Patrol agents arrested Jose Luis Zuniga Hernandez along with two other suspected members of the Gulf Cartel. The group was apprehended as they tried wading across the river south of Santa Maria Tuesday. Hernandez, who is also known as “Commandante Wicho," is the alleged Plaza boss in Matamoros. He’s believed to have taken over after the shooting death of Ezequiel Cárdenas Guillén, who was also known as “Tony Tormenta.”

HIDALGO COUNTY - The six suspects accused of taking part in Sunday’s shooting of a Hidalgo County deputy went before a judge to face charges Tuesday. The suspects were charged with possession of marijuana. Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino says five of the suspects are illegals and only one is a U.S. citizen. Trevino says his office is working to add more charges linked to the deputy's shooting. He says the suspects will be pursued to the fullest extent of the law. The injured deputy is expected to recover. Sheriff Lupe Trevino says the shooting was a case of spillover...

HIDALGO COUNTY - The sheriff says the shooting involving a Hidalgo County sheriff deputy has a cartel connection. Sheriff Lupe Trevino says Sunday’s shooting can be linked to the death of Samuel Borrego Torres, also known as “Metro Tres,” of the Gulf Cartel. Trevino says Daniel Gonzalez Perez from Rio Bravo, a known member of a gang called Partido Revolutionaro, is the man who opened fire on his deputies. The sheriff says this gang was contracted to find a lost load of marijuana for the Gulf Cartel when Metro Tres was killed. Hidalgo deputies rolled up on Perez and three...