Tamaulipas - the state where the Zetas cartel arose and where the Gulf Cartel continues to operate - has seen several of its past governors from the Institutional Revolutionary Party accused of corruption and links to organized crime. DO NOT GO THERE I WAS DUMB AND GLAD NOTHING HAPPENED TO ME. Monitor the local news for updates, follow directions from local officials, and in case of emergency call 911. The border agents on Mexican side stole our passports when coming back into us. The overarching bipolar rivalry between the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG spans not just Mexico but violently all the way to Colombia and non-violently into the Asia-Pacific. A how-to guide for managing the end of the post-Cold War era. Reynosa Massacre Arrests Raise More Questions in Mexico They killed him in cold blood, he and two of his companions, said Ruiz, adding that the gunmen arrived where her brother was fixing a drain. Images posted on social media showed bodies in the streets. Religion and identity meet in Mexico Citys Iztapalapa, A quick guide to Mexico Citys many Pueblos Mgicos, 6 national banks join forces to offer commission-free ATMs, US brings charges against Sinaloa Cartel, including Los Chapitos, Reform allowing state-owned airline passes in Chamber of Deputies. They beat me, chased me and threatened to imprison me,thats why I had to leave, Prez Moreno, 23, said. I begged the head guy to ask around or check cameras because they didnt give it back. All the people tell you that the cartels impose the rules, the narco is the law, Prez Moreno said with dismay. Mexico president to order investigation of border shootings Eagle Pass, a city of 29,500, had a violent crime rate of 179.6 per 100,000 people. Yet, the 2022 outlook for both the rule of law and public safety in Mexico and meaningful U.S.-Mexico security cooperation remains bleak. The cameras, presumably placed by criminal groups, were disguised as payphones, electricity meters and streetlights. Who is Mara Herrera, Mexicos madre buscadora who made it onto the Time 100 list? Prez Moreno said he and his friend panicked and paid more than $600 to be released from the car to avoid being taken and confined to safe houses where drug cartels hold people they kidnap at the border. Federal police continue crackdown with drug dealers. But you must carefully monitor your belongings, do not leave valuables unattended and keep especially important documents and things in the hotel safe. Ochoa also suggested to InSight Crime that the violent rampage could have been due to a third, simpler option. Public transport is rather unsafe here. He said that despite explaining what he suffered, he was returned to Mexico by U.S. immigration authorities. An investigation by Human Rights First compiled thousands of attacks against migrants and asylum-seekers, including kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and rape. 2023 Copyright by Travel Safe - Abroad. Lpez Obrador, or Amlo as most call him, vowed to attack the social roots of crime,offering vocational trainingto more than 2.3 million disadvantaged young people at risk of being ensnared by the cartels. I have been to Reynosa I am a single woman that drove to see my friend at border. He called a guy over and he checked his pockets and he said no. In 2014, the Reynosa city government announced the installation of 472 surveillance cameras around the city. Law enforcement officials say gunmen aboard a number of vehicles have staged attacks in several neighborhoods in the Mexican border city of Reynosa. People on the streets just sitting there when you first cross border. Due to ongoing conflict between Gulf Cartels, it is one of the most dangerous places in Mexico with thousands killed annually. The other four dead were suspected gunmen from a group that drove into the northern border city of Reynosa and opened fire indiscriminately. Your use of this service is subject to our, Worries being subject to a physical attack because of your skin color, ethnic origin, gender or religion, Problem property crimes such as vandalism and theft, Problem violent crimes such as assault and armed robbery. Shootings in Mexico-US border town leave at least 18 dead as mass There has been a major increase in bad behaviour within the city, where violence has long been prevalent. But the federal government has dramatically cut budgets to both and thus gutted the already often-inadequate local capacities, even though its own 2019 security strategy centered on relying on municipal police for security. Matamoros 6/25/2021 - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico He also says he is fighting corruption to stop the infiltration of organized crime among authorities. Pedestrians on the streets should be very careful while crossing the road: drivers usually do not really look around, and especially on pedestrians. Those killed included nurses, shopkeepers, taxi drivers, students and construction workers. In October and November, I spent several weeks in various parts of Mexico researching the evolution of crime and security policies. Criminal organizations should receive a clear, explicit and stern signal from the federal government that there will be no space for impunity, nor tolerance facing criminal conduct, the governors statement added. Weekly U.S.-Mexico Border Update: "Remain in Mexico" hearing - WOLA One possibility is that [the events in Reynosa] were linked to protecting territory, said Marisol Ochoa, a Tamaulipas security expert at Mexicos Iberoamericana University, in an interview with InSight Crime. Reynosa is full of immigrants, they are becoming more and more here, as they are trying to return to the United States, but in most cases, they are returned to this city. The borough's Holy Week passion play the oldest, most elaborate and best-known in the country celebrated its 180th edition this year. On Sunday, Reynosa residents "were quiet as if nothing had happened, but with a feeling of anger because now crime has happened to innocent people," said local businessman Misael Chavarria. Mexico is holding hundreds of unaccompanied children detained before InSight Crime (IC): In Tamaulipas, the Gulf Cartel survived the fragmentation of other major cartels, such as the Zetas, but its divisions seem to be accelerating. Are you on Telegram? Reynosa is one of Mexico's most unsafe cities. If you are a U.S. citizen traveling to, or residing in Mexico, enroll in the. Herrera has tirelessly campaigned to help find missing persons across Mexico, inspired by the disappearance of her own sons. DO NOT TRAVEL HERE, I DIDNT EVEN LET THEM COOK ME BREAKFAST I WANTED HOMEoh also I forgot to mention while sitting in one of the ladies beds (and hearing sex going on all around this complex and seeing a brick of cocaine on a table with two guys who looked like they were gonna pass out, I looked out my open window (there was no glass) and there was a rifle pointed in my direction from across the courtyard. June 23 2021 Jun 23, 2021 . The U.S. government has limited ability to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens in many areas of Mexico, as travel by U.S. government employees to certain areas is prohibited or restricted. The disappearances, and last week's shooting of 15 apparently innocent bystanders in Reynosa, suggest Mexico is returning to the dark days of the 2006-2012 drug war when cartel gunmen often targeted the general public as well as one another. InSight Crime sat down with Marisol Ochoa, a researcher and expert on criminal dynamics from Mexico's Ibero-American University, to understand how the situation deteriorated. Having had his political immunitystripped, he faces a warrant for hisarreston charges of ties to organized crime. Cartels have fought over territory in Reynosa for years. He also says he is fighting corruption to stop the infiltration of organized crime among authorities. Equipped to transmit images remotely, the cameras were used by criminal groups to monitor the authorities as they conducted raids, patrols and stakeouts around Reynosa. But the violence went on. During a shootout with state police, another suspect was killed. Crime in Reynosa, Mexico Compare Reynosa with: Do you live in Reynosa? "They killed him in cold blood, he and two of his companions," said Olga Ruiz, adding that the gunmen arrived where her brother was fixing a drain. Yes, I'm willing to do a survey, Copyright 2009-2023 Numbeo. Who is Mara Herrera, Mexicos madre buscadora who made it onto the Time 100 list? CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico . San Diego and Tijuana: a vanishing border? But the area's criminal activity has long been dominated by the Gulf Cartel and there have been fractures within that group. A faction of one of Mexico's older organized crime groups is doing damage control with a cheap public relations campaign following the kidnapping and murder of US citizens, amid fears of a widespread crackdown. Elsewhere, they have to live with sharing, like the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacin (CJNG) do in the fentanyl and meth precursor hub Lzaro Crdenas. Another hypothesis is that the shootouts were due to the recent political upheaval seen in Tamaulipas. The main risk here is flooding due to heavy rains. If you are white and you go out at night, you are asking for trouble and most likely, will be involved in any number of unwelcome activity. While Reynosa is a major criminal hotspot on the border and regularly sees shootoutsbetween gangs, violence on this scale had not been seen forat least four years. Also driving in there were tarps over the back of trucks with gun tips sticking out. 'We live in fear': Over 6,000 migrants in Mexico have been violently A spokesman for Tamaulipas states secretary of public security said Sunday that the attackers may be members of a splinter faction of the Gulf Cartel, which has a presence in large swaths of the Mexican state that borders Texas. shares Though the motive for the rampage in the northern border city of Reynosa that left scores of civilians dead remains. The Cartel del Golfo the Gulf drug cartel has virtually disappeared after splintering into groups across the state that are involved in a wide range of criminal activities, from oil theft to arms trafficking, drug trafficking and human trafficking, Guerrero said. There is also the presence of various groups previously associated to the Zetas many of them are not just dedicated to drug trafficking but also kidnapping, extortion, oil theft and piracy, she explained. If the value is 0, it means it is perceived as very low, and if the value is 100, it means it is perceived as very high. An investigation by Human Rights First compiled thousands of attacks against migrants and asylum-seekers, including kidnapping, extortion, human trafficking and rape. Why are Criminal Dynamics Constantly Changing in Tamaulipas, Mexico? Three sport-utility vehicles and one long gun were found at the scene. And in December, the newU.S.-Mexico Bicentennial Framework for Security, Public Health, and Safe Communitieswent into effect, replacing the Mrida Initiative that Lpez Obrador intensely disliked while his administrationseverely minimizedU.S.-Mexico security cooperation. Just about any border town just across from the US is trouble. The reduction is not fundamentally due to improved security policies. I told him the guys that searched my car didnt give me passport back. But those measures have yet to pay off, with the new security force used mostly to hunt Central American migrants. With fighting between the Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel has beenreportedin Reynosa since 2017, it is likely the recent shootings are connected to this dispute or another of the Gulf Cartels feuds. In March, the two criminal groupsfought a running battlefor an entire day between the municipalities of Matamoros and Rio Bravo. The Biden administration terminated the program during . People would be under tarps guarding their area with guns. Several of the past governors of the state of Tamaulipas have been accused of corruption and links to organized crime. But what I heard from interlocutors in Mexico wasa most problematic vision of the U.S. Mexico Bicentennial Framework by the Mexican government namely, that the United States should only take care of its own territory by reducing drug demand and retail in the United States and the flows of drug money and weapons to Mexico, while Mexico will do whatever it wants, without U.S. input, in Mexico. I was there and my friends family lives there. A Salvadoran woman and her 7-year-old son were also allegedly kidnapped in Reynosa. Thanks for putting this information together. Keep your friends and loved ones up to date on your whereabouts via phone, text, and social media and let them know you are safe, when possible. Amidst this systematic weakening of Mexicos institutions,the effort by Lpez Obrador and his Attorney General Alejandro Gertz Manero to gut and reverse Mexicos judicial reforms toward an accusatorial system andweaken judicial independenceare among the most detrimental. Security Alert U.S. Consulate General Matamoros, Mexico (June 25, 2021). Sowing fear among the general population is also a tool for criminal groups, Ochoa told InSight Crime. By . In a new report, the Washington-based organization Human Rights Firsthas registered 6,356 violent attacks against migrants in Mexico since January. When forces such as the Mexican Army (SEDENA) and Navy (SEMAR) or the National Guard, now numbering perhaps 100,000, are deployed, they are mostly sent to patrol the streets without active operations against local criminal groups. President: 15 victims were innocent bystanders in Reynosa, Other four were suspected gunmen who fired indiscriminately. The bill would still shorten the duration of mining concessions granted and be contingent on consults with local communities. IE 11 is not supported. Fear has invaded the Mexican border city of Reynosa after a weekend of violence in which 19 people were killed, including taxis drivers, workers and a nursing student, and security forces responded with operations that left four suspects dead. At all levels, police reform has mostly stalled. Thats not always the case. This city across the border from McAllen, Texas, is a key trafficking point, and has long been accustomed to cartel violence. Add data for Reynosa Crime 0 120 67.78 Crime rates in Reynosa, Mexico Safety in Reynosa, Mexico Contributors: 37 Last update: March 2023 These data are based on perceptions of visitors of this website in the past 3 years. For tourists is not recommended and dangerous to travel to this city. Early on March 9, supposed members of the Scorpions, an offshoot of the Gulf Cartel, left an apology note and turned over five . 'I'm Kidnapped': A Father's Nightmare on the Border Simultaneously Caldern also began pursuing the so-calledkingpin strategyby which authorities sought to decapitate the cartels by targeting their leaders. In any case, the city is quite strongly controlled by cartels and the presence of tourists in it can be quite unsafe. 'Long live peace:' Mexican drug cartel factions announce truce | Crime Privacy Policy. Authorities say they are investigating the attacks and haven't provided a motive. They stopped in front of them and started to shoot.. But the 2021 midterms showed to an unprecedented degree that the criminal groups are no longer satisfied to coopt elected officials. Unaccompanied minors from Central America wait to be processed by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Roma, Texas, on July 30, 2021. On Saturday, authorities detained a person who was transporting two apparently kidnapped women in the trunk of a car. Crime gangs watched over Reynosa with 62 hidden cameras - Mexico News Daily According to the researchers, the extensive control exercised by the cartels in vast swaths of the territory and the complicity of the Mexican authorities are evidence that U.S. policies that force asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico or require an initial exemption or other processing there country put migrants, lawyers and humanitarian groups at risk. (modern). It is within the northern part of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Francisco Garca Cabeza de Vaca said in a statement Sunday that he has ordered a speedy investigation. Back in 2004, aninvestigationindicated that, while running to be mayor of Reynosa, he had allegedly received bribes from the Gulf Cartel in exchange for protection. You are Venezuelan and you come to ask for asylum, right?he said the driver asked, without giving him time to ask for help, locked the car doors and began to drive around the city while making calls to other people and asking for money. But people are back and forth there everyday like going to the mall. But Garca Cabeza de Vaca himself is being investigated by the federal prosecutors office for organized crime and money laundering accusations he says are politically motivated.