A top U.S. diplomat assigned to the border state of Tamaulipas shed light on the growing problem of cartel extortion in Mexican border cities. At the same time, local and state government officials continue to push a false rhetoric of safety, claiming that crime is in constant decrease.
Late last week, Mary Virginia Hantsch, the U.S. Consul in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, met with officials in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, where she highlighted the dramatic increase in cartel extortion.
According to Hantsch, two out of every three companies in the region she works in are being extorted by organized crime. She said the extortion hits people at all levels, from street vendors to mid-size companies and, in some cases, large manufacturing and multinational companies, including U.S.-owned ones that provide jobs to thousands in the region. Most of those products eventually end up in the U.S. market and, as such, guaranteeing their production facilities and routes is imperative, she said.
Credit: U.S. Consulate General Matamoros
Her comments directly clash with the ongoing narrative pushed by the Tamaulipas state government which, as Breitbart News Foundation reported, has been constantly pushing the false image that the region is one of the safest in the country. To promote that image, Tamaulipas officials continue pushing doctored crime statistics that do not reflect the reality of life in the state and severely undercount or ignore high-impact crimes such as extortion, kidnapping, forced disappearances, and murder.
This week, Mexico’s top security official Omar Garcia Harfuch highlighted the arrest of several low-level members of the Gulf Cartel in connection with extortion schemes in the border city of Reynosa. Harfuch pointed to individuals forcing local businesses to buy from cartel-approved vendors, something Breitbart News Foundation reported on for several months. Despite the arrests of the low-level members, the command structure of the Gulf Cartel and the influence that they have in the region remain virtually untouched.
#VoceríaInforma
En Tamaulipas, como parte de la Estrategia Nacional contra la Extorsión, se han realizado detenciones relevantes mediante acciones de inteligencia, investigación y coordinación entre las autoridades.
La denuncia ciudadana es fundamental para combatir la… https://t.co/Tj0qe0pcvB
— Vocería de Seguridad Tamaulipas (@VoceriaSegTamps) October 19, 2026
Breitbart News Foundation highlighted the growing extortion trend that the Tamaulipas government has worked hard to suppress. In the border city of Matamoros, cartel gunmen have torched several businesses that have failed to pay cartel fees. One of the most well-known cases took place in August, when the criminal organization set fire to a truck yard and warehouse of a large snack distribution company. The fire destroyed almost 50 delivery trucks. Initially, the Tamaulipas government tried to suppress the information by claiming the fire was accidental; however, federal investigators later determined it was intentional.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart News Foundation traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas, including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas, if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” and “J.C. Sanchez” from Tamaulipas.
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