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Current Affairs

Gulf Cartel Metros Officer “El Cherrys” Arrested in Reynosa, Tamaulipas

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By Samantha Johnson / March 13, 2026

By “El Huaso” for Borderland Beat

Mexican federal authorities arrested “El Cherrys, the third in command of the Gulf Cartel Metros faction during a security operation in Reynosa, Tamaulipas earlier this week.


According to official reports, Manuel González Carrizales, known by the aliases “El Meño,” “El Cherrys,” or “Gordo Cherry,” was detained on the morning of March 8 in the colonia El Anhelo. The federal operation did not include local or state police, which is typical in Tamaulipas, as federal forces distrust state police.

González Carrizales is identified by investigators as third in command of Los Metros, an offshoot faction of the Gulf Cartel allied with the CJNG that operates in Reynosa along the U.S.–Mexico border. Security officials allege that he played a role in coordinating attacks against security forces and narco blockades, probably in retaliation for the killing of El Mencho on 22 February. Investigators also link him to drone attacks against authorities in the “frontera chica,” a stretch of border towns west of Reynosa that has seen repeated clashes between organized crime groups and state forces.

The arrest came after a week where the Metros were especially active. Between March 3-6, 

there were multiple armed confrontations with gunfire, deployment of caltrops, carjackings, vandalism of security cameras, discovery of several bodies showing signs of violence. On March 6, several state police officers, known by Reynosans as being hopelessly corrupt and rumored to on Cherry’s payroll, were arrested for wrongful detentions. 


Twitter posts from March 2025 allege that El Cherry was operating an extortion scheme where shop owners would be forced to purchase beer, cigarettes from the criminal group to later sell themselves. This has become a common criminal trend in some parts of Mexico. 


Source: @MennyValdz Twitter

As El Armadillo wrote for Borderland Beat in December 2025:

“The model is straightforward. A vehicle pulls up, they unload goods you didn’t order, they tell you the price, and they come back in a few days to collect. There’s no negotiation. Whether you sell it is irrelevant. You pay the amount they set, or you deal with the consequences.”

    – Everyone’s Selling Charcoal, by El Armadillo, 4 December 2025


The same Twitter post by MennyValdz also correctly identified El Cherry’s base of operations in El Anhelo.

Source: @MennyValdz Twitter


The capture of “El Cherrys” comes amid ongoing security operations targeting organized crime groups in Tamaulipas, a state that remains one of Mexico’s most important corridors for drug trafficking and migrant smuggling into the United States. The city of Reynosa in particular has long served as a strategic stronghold for factions of the Gulf Cartel, including Los Metros.


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