RIO BRAVO, Tamaulipas – A series of raids and arrests targeting the regional leader of the Gulf Cartel revealed alarming firepower at their disposal. In addition to rifles and pistols, authorities found a .50 caliber anti-aircraft weapon.

The seizure took place last week south of the border with Donna, Texas. According to the Tamaulipas government, a special unit of state police spotted a cartel lookout and saw him run toward an abandoned warehouse. Inside, authorities found a Browning .50 caliber anti-aircraft machine gun, 18 various rifles, a grenade, and ammunition.

High-level Tamaulipas law enforcement officials told Breitbart Texas that the seizure comes amid operations in Rio Bravo, San Fernando, and Valle Hermoso to target the command structure of the Gulf Cartel. Authorities arrested Hector Flavio Sarmiento Juarez, the plaza boss in Rio Bravo, as he recently moved a drug load. The operator is described as the right-hand man of Evaristo “El Vaquero” Cruz Sanchez, the regional leader for the Gulf Cartel.

In recent weeks, El Vaquero has been at odds with operators in Matamoros over control of the city while concurrently fighting the Reynosa faction over control of lucrative drug trafficking and human smuggling territories.

In an effort to avoid capture, El Vaquero left Matamoros and moves around San Fernando, law enforcement sources revealed to Breitbart Texas.

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.