HomeNewsBriefGulf Cartel Future Uncertain as Alleged Infighting Escalates in North Mexico
BRIEF

Gulf Cartel Future Uncertain as Alleged Infighting Escalates in North Mexico

GULF CARTEL / 9 APR 2014 BY JAMES BARGENT EN

A wave of violence in northern Mexico has been attributed to a bloody struggle for control of the Gulf Cartel, suggesting long running internal disputes and the loss of key leaders have led to a breakdown in the organization's structure.

In this past week alone, at least 35 people have been killed in clashes in a string of cities across the state of Tamaulipas, reported Proceso.

The violence began on April 4 with an assault on a hotel in Ciudad Mier, before spreading to the cities of Tampico, Miguel Aleman, Reynosa and Matamoros.

According to anonymous security forces sources consulted by EFE, the cause of the confrontations is a war for control of the Gulf Cartel, which has divided into factions following the recent arrests of two leading commanders.

One of these factions is controlled by the family of Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who led the cartel in its heyday, and is based in Matamoros, while the other faction controls the metropolitan area of Tampico, according to Proceso.

InSight Crime Analysis

Once one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels, the Gulf Cartel has been in decline since 2010, when its armed wing, the Zetas, turned on their former masters. Shortly after, the group split into two competing factions, one known as the Metros, led by Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias "El Coss," and the other, the Rojos, which stayed loyal to the Cardenas family.

Since then, the group has been hit hard by war with the Zetas, and the arrests of leader El Coss in 2012 and his successor Mario Ramirez Treviño, alias "X20," in 2013, on the Metros side, and of Mario Cardenas Guillen, alias "El Gordo," on the Rojos side in 2012.

If the current reports of infighting are correct, it would suggest a continuation of the conflict begun years earlier, with the Cardenas family leading the Rojos against their rivals.

SEE ALSO: Gulf Cartel News and Profile

However, with no clear leadership emerging since the arrests, and the recent capture of another commander touted as a possible leader, the cartel may have broken down to such an extent that even this could be a simplification, and it is possible even more factions are disputing control.

The situation is further complicated by the enduring conflict with the Zetas in Tamaulipas, who themselves have been undergoing a process of division and fragmentation following the loss of key leaders.

In this new, ever more fractured criminal landscape, it is likely Tamaulipas will continue to be ravaged by violence, as the remnants of the two cartels battle over the remains of their fallen criminal empires.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

BRAZIL / 7 OCT 2022

Latin America's environmental and land protectors are routinely murdered by the regions criminals.

BRAZIL / 2 NOV 2021

Organized crime groups in Latin America continue to expand into illicit synthetic drug production, including mass manufacturing of methamphetamine and…

EXTORTION / 28 JAN 2022

Cartels are known for shakedowns of avocado growers, but lime farmers have been unnoticed victims of similar extortion schemes in…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…