An adult cartel lieutenant broke out of a Tamaulipas juvenile detention facility where he was serving time for extortion. State authorities are tight-lipped about the escape and the probes into jailers who aided in the escape. The man belongs to a new Mexican border state organization going by the name “Cartel X.”
Over the past weekend, 22-year-old Mario Otoniel Garza Mendez slipped out of a state juvenile detention center in Guemez, law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas. The fugitive is a top leader within the newly formed Cartel X, which is fighting against the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel for control of the state capital, Ciudad Victoria.
Even though he is now an adult, Garza Mendez was a minor at the time of his conviction. He must therefore serve his full sentence in his original facility.
The Tamaulipas government has not released any formal statements about the case, however, law enforcement sources tell Breitbart Texas that prison guards and some state police officers are under investigation for letting Garza Mendez walk out the front door. The guards claim the fugitive scaled a perimeter wall to freedom, however.