Authorities in the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas confirmed that the vice-president of the state’s chamber of commerce has been reported missing in the city of Reynosa. The abduction comes a little over a year after the then president of the same chamber died at the hands of the Gulf Cartel in neighboring Matamoros after exposing the widespread extortion by the criminal organization with the help of city officials.
Late last week, the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office issued a short statement and a search notice related to the disappearance of Marco Antonion Marino Leal, the vice president of the Federal National Chamber of Commerce (FECANACO) in Tamaulipas.
Details of the abduction remain unknown; however, the FECANACO issued a series of statements not only condemning the disappearance but also requesting the help of federal and state authorities. The FECANACO and its leaders have been very vocal in the past over the security crisis in Tamaulipas, where various criminal organizations such as the Gulf Cartel, Cartel Del Noreste/Los Zetas, and others extort most businesses in the state.
Credit: Tamaulipas FGJE
The last known information points to Marino Leal, who lives in Tampico, Tamaulipas, having traveled to Reynosa for a series of meetings with business owners and leaders over the growing extortion issue in that city. In recent weeks, the Gulf Cartel has turned Reynosa into a hotbed of violent crime, extortion, and kidnappings as the criminal organization seeks to make up the money lost after the Trump administration closed the asylum loophole that criminal organizations were using to smuggle migrants. The border buildup and influx of troops and agents have also made it difficult for the Gulf Cartel to move drug loads through the Rio Grande, pushing the criminal organization to rely primarily on smuggling through ports of entry.
Marino Leal’s suspected kidnapping comes a little over a year after the FECANACO’s former President, Julio Almanza, died outside of his office in the border city of Matamoros during a shooting attack at the hands of the Gulf Cartel. As Breitbart Texas reported at the time, Almanza had been exposing the ongoing extortion of businessmen in Matamoros by the Gulf Cartel with the help of city officials.
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 Iortiz@breitbart.com.
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 bdarby@breitbart.com.
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