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The IOM Emergency Manual document says this cash assistance also includes less-seeable bank transfers, mobile transfers, and e-vouchers that go to intending illegal border crossers en route or at least temporarily blocked like many of those I saw and interviewed in Reynosa. In addition to those and the pre-paid plastic cards, the IOM says in its Emergency Manual that it also sometimes hands out “cash in envelopes (hard cash).” No details are offered on that.Many payments are given as “unconditional; unrestricted cash transfers” for “multi-purpose use,” the manual says. Still other handouts subsidize the lodging, rent, and utilities of intending...

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico (AP) — Gunmen aboard a number of vehicles staged attacks in several neighborhoods in the Mexican border city of Reynosa on Saturday, and at least 15 people died in clashes that caused widespread panic, according to local law enforcement. The Tamaulipas state agency coordinating security forces said in a statement that the attacks began in the early afternoon in several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the city, which borders McAllen, Texas. The agency said one person died during an attack on police near a border bridge, but it was not clear if the others were shot...

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents had to use tear gas and pepper spray early Saturday to stop nearly 50 “undocumented individuals” from illegally entering the U.S. after they stormed a port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, officials said. The incident at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge took place at around 4 a.m. The bridge is closed between midnight at 6 a.m., but CBP has had to construct temporary barriers in the middle of the span due to the large influx of migrants using the bridge at night. A CBP official told Fox News the group attempted...

The Pharr International Bridge was temporarily closed Friday morning after a group of undocumented immigrants attempted to rush the bridge to enter the United States, according to a release from Customs and Border Protection. “At about 4 a.m. today[Friday], a group of 47 undocumented individuals attempted to illegally enter the United States in three waves via the Pharr International Bridge. Ignoring commands to stop, the group suddenly rushed the temporary barricades, bent metal poles and disabled the concertina wire affixed to the barrier,” states the release. (more at link)

One of the men suspected of controlling the smuggling of migrants for the Gulf Cartel was previously arrested by U.S. authorities and released 15 days later on a single immigration charge. The man is considered one of the cartel’s most violent enforcers in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. As Breitbart News exclusively reported, Hector “La Mimi or M-22” Sanchez Rivera is currently a leading enforcer for the Gulf Cartel along with his brother, Ernesto. They are directly responsible for controlling the smuggling of migrants from Gulf Cartel territory in Mexico to South Texas. The duo fostered a reputation for violence and is linked...

REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Convoys of cartel gunmen clashed in a Mexican neighborhood immediately south of a U.S. wildlife refuge. The fierce gun battle went on for more than an hour and reached an international bridge zone that connects this city with Pharr, Texas. A leaked cartel video obtained by Breitbart Texas reveals the moment when gunmen from one of the factions ride in an armored SUV in what appears to be a patrol operation. Moments later, the gunmen can be heard calling for reinforcements as they begin to fire their weapons at rivals.

<p>MEXICO CITY (AP) — Five suspects and a taxi driver were killed in two shootouts between drug cartel gunmen and marines Friday in the border city of Reynosa in northern Mexico.</p> <p>The government of Tamaulipas state, where Reynosa is located across the border from McAllen, Texas, said another three people died late Thursday in other confrontations.</p>

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Secret Service visited the office of a Pennsylvania-based refrigeration contractor, Fazio Mechanical Services, in connection with an investigation of the Target Corp consumer data breach, a spokesman for the agency said on Wednesday. Fazio is the largest refrigeration contractor in the Western Pennsylvania region, and Target is one of its clients, according to the Sharpsburg-based company's website. A law enforcement source told Reuters that evidence suggests the hackers stole login credentials from Fazio and may have used the credentials to break into Target's network. The source added, however, that investigators were not sure that...

Mexico’s human rights commission said Thursday it launched an investigation into what had been reported as five teenage students who were fatally run down Wednesday by suspected criminals fleeing army soldiers giving chase. The declaration came the same day that the Tamaulipas attorney general’s office backed off its initial report that the five children — between 13 and 15 years old — were killed as they waited for a school bus along the Reynosa-San Fernando highway early Wednesday afternoon. Instead, state prosecutors now say that there’s nothing that shows the truck that killed the students was being pursued by army...

REYNOSA — Fear and panic filled the streets of Reynosa on Sunday night as rival gunmen battled during a three-hour firefight that saw automatic weapons and grenades used. Surprisingly, Mexican authorities were absent for most of the melee. The opening clashes were reported just before 9 p.m. Sunday, when rival factions of the Gulf Cartel consummated what appeared to be a yet another rift within the criminal organization. During the protracted gunbattle, dozens of gunmen were killed, but authorities Monday would only confirm the deaths of two bystanders and the injury of a third. A Tamaulipas law enforcement official, who...

Authorities are investigating an incident where an American citizen was grazed by a bullet while fleeing from gunmen in the outskirts of Reynosa. Pharr police reported that it happened on the Mexican border city's eastside early Sunday morning. Investigators told Action 4 News that a wounded 38-year-old man drove up from Mexico at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge around 8:20 a.m. Sunday. The Pharr man told customs officers that a bullet grazed his head while fleeing from gunmen in his red Ford Ranger pickup truck. It's not clear why the man was in Mexico or what he was doing but he...

No injuries have been reported after unknown gunmen fired several gunshots at a Reynosa newspaper Monday afternoon. The unidentified shooters opened fire at political tabloid Hora Cero about 1 p.m. Monday, said a Tamaulipas law enforcement official who requested anonymity. A reporter familiar with the Hora Cero attack said “every part” of the newspaper’s building along the Ribereña highway had been hit with bullets, though none of its staff suffered injuries. “They shot up the whole ... building,” the reporter said in Spanish, adding that Hora Cero’s editors had received threats in recent weeks. Hector Hugo Jimenez, the general director...

An unidentified woman believed to be a U.S. citizen was killed Saturday night during a firefight between the Mexican military and a group of gunmen near the Plaza Niños Heroes in downtown Reynosa, said a Tamaulipas law enforcement official who asked not to be named for security reasons. On Sunday, the Mexican military raided a stash house just two blocks away from where the woman had been killed, said a source outside law enforcement with direct knowledge. It remained unclear whether the woman was a bystander Saturday night or played a role in the clash. Mexican authorities have not released...

Several Mexican soldiers were killed when gunmen ambushed them Thursday afternoon in Reynosa, said sources outside law enforcement familiar with organized crime. The ambush came in response to heavy casualties the military inflicted on gunmen Thursday morning, the sources said. The clashes continued a violent week along the northern Tamaulipas border, which had experienced weeks of relative calm until a reported push by the Zetas drug cartel to take over Gulf Cartel territory in Reynosa and Matamoros. In Thursday’s clashes in Reynosa, roads were blockaded and gunbattles pitted the Mexican military against gunmen, and rival groups of gunmen against each...

Firefights, grenade explosions and chases broke out in Reynosa once again Wednesday night defying regular assurances by state officials that all was well. And unconfirmed reports from sources outside law enforcement point to the capture of a ranking lieutenant in the Gulf Cartel, possibly a plaza boss. Mexican authorities wouldn’t confirm or deny the capture. The clashes began as a chase between gunmen shortly after 7:30 p.m. before authorities got involved, according to preliminary information released by a local law enforcement official not authorized to speak publicly. The official wouldn’t comment on the gunmen’s affiliation but said the fighting was...

HIDALGO — Police here rescued a kidnapping victim from the trunk of a car bound for Mexico Tuesday morning. Police are not releasing many details about the kidnapping because it is still under investigation and officers want to protect the victim from further danger, Captain Robert Vela of the Hidalgo Police Department said. A police officer stationed at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge was inspecting southbound traffic when he came across a driver who looked younger than the average licensed driver, investigators said. At least one patrolman is always on duty at the port of entry to secure the toll booths...

As the Gulf Cartel’s internal struggle continues, the residents of Reynosa, Matamoros and Valle Hermoso have been subjected to various firefights. In one of those firefights, the plaza boss of Valle Hermoso — a man known as Comandante Guerra — reportedly was gunned down. The firefights between the Gulf Cartel’s warring factions — the Rojos and the Metros — began Tuesday evening and continued into late Wednesday morning, said a source outside law enforcement familiar with the situation. The first clash was reported in Valle Hermoso, some 18 miles south of Brownsville, where Comandante Guerra was gunned down. About 8...

Authorities destroyed close to 94,000 pounds of marijuana Thursday morning in Reynosa, according to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, known as the PGR. The destruction took place under heavy guard at the Shooting and Fishing Club in Reynosa, which lies along the highway to San Fernando, Tamps. In addition to the marijuana, the PGR also destroyed about a half-pound of cocaine, one pound of methamphetamines and 324 marijuana plants. The drugs were seized as part of 74 different investigations.

EDINBURG — Mexican federal authorities arrested a suspect who fled to Mexico Wednesday morning after he allegedly shot a man and stole his truck in Edinburg. Mexican soldiers arrested the suspect and another man as they crossed the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge because they were in possession of a firearm, which is illegal in Mexico, Edinburg police Lt. Oscar Treviño said. Police did not release the men’s identities. Edinburg investigators believe the handgun found inside the stolen truck those two men drove was the one used in a shooting earlier that day in the 1000 block of Denver St. in Edinburg....

McALLEN — A joint venture between the Mexican Army and the city of Reynosa has resulted in citizens turning in 23 firearms in exchange for food rations. The program kicked off Monday morning as a way to get guns off the streets, with city officials inviting the public to visit either of the two trade centers and exchange weapons or ammunition for food. The program is expected to run until 6 p.m. Friday, but on Tuesday alone, 11 rifles had been traded in, including a Tommy gun. The exchange booths are at the March 21 Plaza in the Benito Juarez...