The Gulf Cartel killed a Mexican activist just days after a judge removed his police protection that was previously granted after the same cartel had kidnapped him four times before and threatened to kill him. The Gulf Cartel is one of six Mexican organized crime groups designated by the Trump administration as foreign terrorist organizations.
The killing happened last week when a group of gunmen shot and killed Gabriel Hernandez Tovar as he drove down a busy boulevard in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Hernandez had been a vocal activist who had exposed how the Gulf Cartel had been terrorizing the citizens of Reynosa through the widespread use of ransom kidnappings. He had also worked with groups that searched for clandestine gravesites used by the criminal organization to dispose of their victims.
According to the late Hernandez, Gulf Cartel commander Mario “La Chispa” Guitian Rosas had been responsible for a wave of ransom kidnappings targeting small business owners in Reynosa.
During the attack, Hernandez lost control of his vehicle and drove into an irrigation canal, where, eventually, authorities recovered his body. The Gulf Cartel gunmen escaped with complete impunity. The Tamaulipas government has not made any arrests in connection with the case.
Days before the attack, a Mexican judge removed the police protection that had been previously granted to Hernandez following a 2021 kidnapping by the Gulf Cartel. Five days before his murder, Hernandez had filed court documents and letters requesting protection.
In 2024, a Gulf Cartel gunman had pointed a gun at him and told him to stop his activism or he would be killed. Mexican Judge Yolanda Vega Marroquin ignored the requests and refused to provide Hernandez with security.
The cartel kidnapped Hernandez four times in the past. In three of those cases, his family was forced to pay a ransom to the Gulf Cartel. The last kidnapping took place in 2021, but he managed to escape from his captors. It was after this case that another judge ordered that Hernandez be placed under police protection.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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