Overview

• Ezequiel Cárdenas Rivera, alias “El Tormenta Junior,” was detained by Tamaulipas state forces on August 17 in the Villa Española neighborhood of Matamoros.
• Officers discovered a 9×19 mm pistol with a loaded magazine in his Jeep Wrangler before transferring him to the Fiscalía General de la República.
• His detention was logged under Registro Nacional de Detenciones case FED/TAMP/MAT/0001782/2025 on charges of carrying a weapon reserved for military use.
• Authorities identify him as the leader of Los Escorpiones, a splinter cell competing with other Gulf Cartel factions for control of border smuggling routes.
• Security patrols remain active in Matamoros and surrounding municipalities to prevent retaliatory outbreaks and disrupt cartel networks.