Drug Lord's Death Brings Hope, Fear To Mexican City

toggle caption John Burnett/NPR

Mexican military forces cornered and killed one of the country's top drug lords, Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, also known as "Tony Tormenta" or "Tony the Storm," on Friday. The hours-long gun battle in Matamoros paralyzed this border city run by the Gulf Cartel.

All day long, people come here to see the nameless, whitewashed storefront where it's believed the Mexican army and navy killed Cardenas Guillen.

The building's facade is demolished by gaping grenade blasts and bullet holes, and the parking lot is littered with broken glass and pools of blood.

"This was black Friday for Matamoros. We'll never, ever forget Nov. 5," says a woman named Rosa, a downtown professional who was afraid to give her last name, as she surveyed the aftermath of the gun battle.

Nearby, a vendor sells fresh coconut to the curious who stroll past.

"We hope that, with this incident, the violence will calm down for a little while," he says. "We hope. Because you know how fast it can return. It's a hydra with 1,000 heads. If you cut one, another grows. But we hope there's a little time before the new one grows. Matamoros needs peace and tranquility. We are so tired."

Embattled residents cowered inside bathrooms and basements for hours while the gunfire and explosions raged around this city of 400,000.

There were frantic messages on Twitter: "It's hot downtown. Stay away!" YouTube is full of homemade videos that show the mayhem.

Across the border in Brownsville, the gunfights prompted police at the University of Texas to cancel classes and move homecoming activities off campus.

The Mexican navy reported on its website that 660 troops from the navy and army took part in the assault, supported by three helicopters.

Locals witnessed pickup trucks full of camouflage-clad troops tearing through the streets, and helicopters firing on convoys of shiny SUVs, carrying gangsters in sneakers and tactical vests. A headline in one local newspaper labeled it "Eight Hours of Hell."

An Opportunity For A Rival Mafia?

The focus of the military offensive was the Gulf Cartel, which has dominated this valuable drug smuggling corridor for more than 30 years. The crime syndicate is currently embroiled in a turf war with its former enforcers, Los Zetas, now a brutal mafia in its own right.

Some Matamoros residents fear that the ambitious Zetas -- based in the nearby city of Reynosa -- will use the death of Tormenta to muscle into Matamoros and eliminate the weakened Gulf Cartel.

Carlos, who also asked that his last name be omitted, is a lifelong resident.

"What is going to happen with the Zetas?" he asks. "Are they coming down here? Is it gonna be worse? We don't know."

His fear is well-founded.

On Saturday, the Zetas dropped leaflets that urged their Gulf rivals to surrender and issued this warning: "In the upcoming days, there will be more activity. We hope you understand and let us do our job."

toggle caption Drug Enforcement Administration/Getty Images

'A Very Dangerous And Bloody Man'

Tormenta, a thickset, mustachioed, 48-year-old capo, took over the Gulf Cartel after his brother, Osiel Cardenas, was captured in 2003 and sent to the U.S., where's he currently serving a 25-year prison sentence.

A fearful local newspaper editor says the nickname "Tormenta" was well-earned. "He was explosive, a very dangerous and bloody man."

According to the Mexican government, 10 people were killed in the shootout, including the crime boss, four of his bodyguards, three marines, a soldier and a journalist -- Carlos Alberto Guajardo, who was caught in the crossfire.

On Saturday, his newspaper, El Expreso de Matamoros, ran a front-page editorial lamenting the loss of its reporter and denouncing the "lottery of death" that their city has become.

But organized crime has so terrorized newsrooms across northern Mexico that the article didn't make a single mention of the Gulf Cartel or its dead leader.