MATAMOROS, Tamaulipas – A barfight is reported to be the current motive for the son of a jailed cartel boss who allegedly ordered the kidnapping and murder of three teenagers. The murder investigation comes as the region is experiencing a dramatic spike in kidnappings and violent extortion schemes targeting not only wealthy individuals but average citizens of all ages.

Breitbart Texas consulted with Tamaulipas law enforcement sources who revealed details of an ongoing criminal investigation surrounding the murder of three teens. Authorities discovered the bodies in the border city of Reynosa, about an hour west from where they were kidnapped.

As Breitbart Texas first reported, a group of Gulf Cartel gunmen pulled up to the parking lot of a hospital on the south side of Reynosa where they executed three men and fled. Initially, it was believed that the victims were rival cartel members. After authorities identified the victims, a different story came to light.

Tamaulipas law enforcement sources reported that the three teens had been at a bar called Caribe in Matamoros with a group of friends when a fight broke out with another group of men. The working theory shared by law enforcement points to a man known as Kike Cardenas — the son of jailed Gulf Cartel kingpin Jose Alfredo Cardenas Martinez — as having taken part in the fight and ordering payback from the three teens and their friends.

After the fight, the three teens and their friends fled in two vehicles only to be stopped by gunmen working for the Cardenas family, officials stated. Tamaulipas law enforcement said there is an active investigation to confirm or disprove one of the rumors that point to the gunmen having been law enforcement officials who arrested the teens only to turn them over to the Gulf Cartel.

Relatives and friends of the teenagers protested and expressed their outrage towards local authorities as Matamoros continues to descend further into lawlessness while the city mayor claims otherwise.

The teen’s murder comes at a time when as Breitbart Texas reported, Gulf Cartel gunmen have been carrying out numerous kidnappings and extortions in Matamoros. The crimes have even targeted well known social figures including doctors and factory supervisors who have been forced to pay ransoms for their release.

Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican 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 Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.A. Espinoza” from Tamaulipas.