Infighting in the Gulf Cartel

Infighting in the Gulf cartel
Part of Mexican drug war
map of territories of Los Metros (grey) and Los Rojos (pink) in 2021
Date	2 September 2011 – present
Location	Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico and some "spillover" violence in Texas
Caused by	Civil confrontation between Los Rojos and Los Metros to take Reynosa, Tamaulipas, territory not granted to Los Rojos
Goals	Conquest of Reynosa, Tamaulipas
Parties
Los Metros Los Rojos Dragones de Sheyla faction-Los Fresitas faction (conflict in 2014) Grupo Escorpión-Los Ciclones (conflict from 2021 to 2022) Ramirez Treviño faction-Villareal faction (conflict in 2014)
Casualties
Death(s)	+200 deaths[1][2][3]

The infighting in the Gulf Cartel refers to a series of confrontations between the Metros and the Rojos, two factions within Gulf Cartel that engaged in a power struggle directly after the death of the drug lord Samuel Flores Borrego in September 2011. The infighting has lasted through 2013, although the Metros have gained the advantage and regained control of the major cities controlled by the cartel when it was essentially one organization.

Originally, the two factions were formed in the late 1990s by Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, the former leader of the criminal organization. After the drug lord's arrest and extradition in 2003 and 2007 respectively, the control of the Gulf Cartel went on to his brother Antonio Cárdenas Guillén (Tony Tormenta) and close associate Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sánchez (El Coss). But the differences between the two factions began in 2010, when Juan Mejía González of the Rojos was overlooked as the regional boss for Reynosa, Tamaulipas during a cartel shift and appointed to a less-important territory. In the assignment, Flores Borrego of the Metros was given Reynosa, suggesting that the Metros were above the Rojos. When Antonio was killed by the Mexican marines on 5 November 2010 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, his faction – the Rojos – perceived that the Metros had tipped the Mexican authorities to Antonio's whereabouts. Those who were more loyal to the Cárdenas drug family stayed with the Rojos, while those loyal to Costilla Sánchez stayed in the Metros.

In efforts to seek revenge for the death of their leader, Mejía González and Rafael Cárdenas Vela, the nephew of Antonio, allegedly ordered the execution of Flores Borrego, the second-in-command in the Metros faction. With his death, both two factions turned their guns against each other and went to war in the Mexican northern state of Tamaulipas, and reportedly offered information to U.S. authorities on the location of cartel members hiding in the United States. In the infighting, many high-ranking members of the Gulf Cartel have been killed or arrested. In some cases, however, the drug-related violence extended across the U.S.–Mexico border in South Texas, prompting debates on the possibility of "spillover violence" from the Mexican Drug War.

The fight has forced the Rojos to barricade in Matamoros, Tamaulipas while the Metros make their final incursions to put them down. In order to do so, Costilla Sánchez of the Metros allegedly worked with the Sinaloa Cartel and Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Nonetheless, after the arrests of Costilla Sánchez and Cárdenas Guillén, it is difficult to predict what fate lies ahead for the Gulf Cartel and Mexico's criminal underworld.