![\"cartel\"](\"https:\/\/hcsblogdotorg.files.wordpress.com\/2015\/10\/cartel.jpg\")
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Just 3 miles south of Brownsville, Texas, in the city of Matamoros, Mexico, a small-scale war is raging, and this war is not your typical drug cartel violence that most of the local residents have grown accustomed too. No, this war is the result of the capture of the\u00a0Gulf Cartel’s<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>top leaders,\u00a0Angel Eduardo \u201cCiclon 7 or Orejon\u201d Prado Rodriguez<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0Rodriguez was the top leader within the Los Ciclones Faction<\/a> <\/strong>of the Gulf cartel, which operated primarily in Matamoros city.<\/p>\n Several large-scale gun battles and high-speed chases occurred between the cartels and Mexican Federales all over the city, forcing the Mayor to issue public statements on radio and T.V. for residents to stay inside their homes and off of the roads.<\/p>\n This type of violence is typical after a major cartel leader like Rodriguez is caught. This vacancy in leadership causes a “power vaccum” that will exist until the position is filled. Various sources to Breitbart Texas<\/a> <\/strong>suggest Rodriguez’ successor will be Odon Azua Cruces<\/em> or “Gordo Cherry” or “El Cherry”, who was Prado’s right hand man in charge of kidnapping and assassinations.<\/p>\n These bloody and lengthy “power vacuum” battles are fairly common in the border towns and happen more frequently than most people think. The most recent one happened in\u00a0<\/span>Reynosa in 2011 when Samuel \u201cMetro 3\u201d Flores Borrego was murdered, fracturing the gulf cartel <\/a>into several distinct groups. The same scenario took place once again in 2013 following the death of Hector \u201cMetro 4\u201d Delgado.<\/p>\n