The drug violence and political corruption that has plagued Tamaulipas , the homestate of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas , has fueled thoughts of Tamaulipas becoming a " failed state " and a haven for drug traffickers and criminals of all kinds . The massacre of the 72 migrants and the clandestine mass graves with more than 250 bodies in San Fernando , Tamaulipas , mounted with the assassination of the state candidate Rodolfo Torre Cantú ( 2010 ) , the increasing violence generated between drug groups , and the state 's inability to ensure tranquility , has led specialists to conclude that " neither the regional nor federal government have control over the territory of Tamaulipas . " < ! -- WP : NFCC violation : Although drug-related violence has existed since the early beginnings of the Gulf Cartel , it often happened in low-profile levels , while the government agreed to " look the other way " while the drug traffickers went about their business — as long as they behaved . Back in the days of the 71-year rule of the Institutional Revolutionary Party ( PRI ) , it was believed that they ran exactly that show : if the drug cartels got off the line , the Mexican government would conduct some arrests , make some disappearances , and the drug lords would get their people straight and back on the line again . After the PRI lost the presidency in 2000 to the National Action Party ( PAN ) , the arrangement between the government and the cartels was lost , as well the '' pax mafiosa '' . Moreover , the state of Tamaulipas was no exception ; according to Santiago Creel , a PAN politician and pre-candidate for the 2012 presidency , the PRI in Tamaulipas has protected the Gulf Cartel for years . In addition , '' El Universal '' newspaper mentions that the narco-corruption in Tamaulipas is due to the fact the opposing political parties , the PAN and the Party of the Democratic Revolution ( PRD ) , rarely win an election and " practically do not exist " . PRI 's main opposition party , the PAN , claimed that government elections in Tamaulipas are likely to encounter an " organized crime influence . " The '' Excélsior '' newspaper reported that the former governors of Tamaulipas , Manuel Cavazos Lerma ( 1993 – 1999 ) , Tomás Yarrington ( 1999 – 2004 ) , and Eugenio Hernández Flores ( 2005 – 2010 ) have had close ties with the Gulf Cartel . On 30 January 2012 , the Attorney General of Mexico issued a communiqué ordering the past three governors of Tamaulipas and their families to remain in the country as they are being investigated for possible correlation with the Mexican drug cartels . The municipal president of Tampico , Tamaulipas , Óscar Pérez Inguanzo , was arrested 12 November 2011 due to his " improper exercise of public functions and forgery " of certain documents . In addition , '' La Jornada '' mentions that the Gulf Cartel owns " all of Matamoros " , where they act as the State itself and conduct all forms of criminal activities . In mid-2010 , Eugenio Hernández Flores , the governor of Tamaulipas , and Óscar Luebbert Gutiérrez , the mayor of Reynosa , Tamaulipas — both members of the '' Institutional Revolutionary Party '' ( PRI ) — were criticized for claiming that there were no armed confrontations in Tamaulipas and that the violence was " only a rumor . " Months later , Hernández Flores finally recognized that several parts of Tamaulipas were " being overrun by organized crime violence . " Luebbert Gutiérrez later recognized the work of the federal troops and acknowledged that his city was experiencing " an escalation in violence . " On June 5 , 2016 , citizens from Tamaulipas elected a governor from the opposition party , Fransico Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca member of Accion Nacional ( National Action ) . It is the first time in 87 years , a governor from the opposition wins in the state . He won under the slogan " winds of change are coming " to Tamaulipas . While his election did not had that much substance in a public policy perspective , its rhetoric of a peaceful transition , enabled him to defeat by double digits the candidate from the ruling party , Baltazar Manuel Hinijosa Ochoa
72 migrants
2010 San Fernando massacre
Gulf Cartel