Traffic blocked and border bridges temporarily closed
The disruption extended beyond Matamoros to Río Bravo and the highways connecting Matamoros with Reynosa and Ciudad Victoria. Reforma reported that people forced drivers out of public transportation vehicles, trucks and cars, then used the vehicles to obstruct traffic. Gunfire was also reported in Matamoros and elsewhere in Tamaulipas.
State security officials announced that a "priority target" associated with an organized criminal group had been detained, without identifying the person. They urged residents to stay away from blockades, take other routes and monitor official announcements.
Across the border in Brownsville, Texas, police announced a temporary shutdown of all international bridges linking the city to Matamoros because of a security incident. Police later said normal bridge operations had resumed. In Matamoros, the Tamaulipas Ministry of Education canceled afternoon school classes.
Two detained in federal operation
Omar García Harfuch said Army special forces and National Guard personnel detained Cárdenas Rodríguez and one other person during the Matamoros operation. Authorities seized a vehicle along with weapons, magazines, ammunition and drugs, he said. The two detainees were subsequently flown to Mexico City.
García Harfuch identified Cárdenas Rodríguez as the Ciclones faction's deputy leader and alleged that he was involved in murder, kidnapping, extortion and trafficking drugs, weapons and people into the United States. He also said authorities considered Cárdenas Rodríguez responsible for the May 17 attack on Mexican Security Secretariat employees that killed one law enforcement officer and injured several others.
Cárdenas Rodríguez is the son of José Alfredo Cárdenas Martínez, known as El Contador, whom El Economista identifies as the Ciclones leader. Diario MX, citing Agencia Reforma, also identifies him as a nephew of former Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, known as "El Mata Amigos." As of its October 29, 2026, report, Osiel Cárdenas Guillén was held at CEFERESO No. 1, the federal maximum-security prison known as "El Altiplano," in Almoloya de Juárez, State of Mexico.
Previous arrest and kidnapping allegations
Cárdenas Rodríguez had previously been taken into custody with his brother, Alan Alexis Cárdenas Rodríguez. Milenio reported that the FGR arrested the brothers on May 7, 2023, in coordination with the SSPC and Sedena.
Sedena accused the brothers of ordering the March 2023 kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in Matamoros. Two of the victims were killed.
On January 18, 2024, a control judge in Reynosa changed Axel Cárdenas Rodríguez's pretrial detention measure. He left the Altiplano maximum-security prison two days later, on January 20, according to Milenio.
Ciclones leadership and alliances
Milenio traces the Ciclones faction's initial leadership to Ángel Prado Rodríguez, known as "El Ciclón." Following his arrest, El Contador was identified as the faction's leader. El Contador's cousin, Ezequiel Cárdenas Rivera, known as "Tormenta Jr.," headed the allied Los Escorpiones faction.
El Contador has also been arrested and released repeatedly, according to Milenio. His first arrest was in 2004. Authorities arrested him again in Matamoros in February 2018, but he was later freed after his defense alleged a due-process violation. Another arrest followed in San Luis Potosí in March 2019; he was released in October 2020.
After his February 2022 arrest in Mexico City, El Contador remained in custody until a change in his precautionary measure allowed him to leave Reclusorio Oriente in November 2024.
Following Cárdenas Rivera's reported arrest in 2025, El Contador consolidated his control of Los Ciclones and its alliance with Los Escorpiones, Milenio reported. That effort was partly intended to counter Los Metros, a rival faction allied with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, or CJNG.
Another Ciclones figure, Antonio Guadalupe "N," known as "Lexus," was arrested by Army personnel near Ejido Sandoval in Matamoros on February 26, 2026. According to Milenio, he was El Contador's security chief and commanded the faction's "Operativa Ranger" unit.
