The Tamaulipas state delegate of the Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) was murdered on Monday in the border city of Reynosa.
Ernesto Cuitláhuac Vázquez Reyna came under attack on Monday evening while traveling alone in a black Cadillac SUV on the Miguel Hidalgo Boulevard in Reynosa.
Attackers reportedly threw a grenade at his vehicle, causing it to catch fire.
Video footage indicates that Vázquez, apparently injured, subsequently got out of his vehicle and sat, or slumped, down next to its rear left wheel.
As smoke emanated from the vehicle, a gray SUV pulled up behind it and gunshots subsequently rang out. Video footage also shows a man dragging Vázquez’s body away from his vehicle, which was engulfed in flames at the time.
The newspaper La Jornada reported that the attack occurred near the FGR delegate’s office in Reynosa, located opposite the city of Hidalgo, Texas.
La Jornada also reported that gunmen “simultaneously blocked streets and avenues” in Reynosa and stole vehicles from “civilians unconnected to the events.”
The attackers were not immediately identified and no arrests in connection with the murder were reported. The Gulf Cartel and the Northeast Cartel are among the criminal groups that operate in Tamaulipas.
The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office said on social media that it “established coordination” with the FGR “to collaborate on the investigations into the events in which a person presumed to be a federal public servant lost his life.”
Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villareal condemned the crime against the FGR delegate, which occurred during rush hour in Reynosa.
“We stand in solidarity with his family and reiterate our complete willingness to cooperate with the Attorney General’s Office and the government of Mexico in the quest for justice and the construction of peace,” he wrote on X.
On Tuesday morning, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the federal government’s security cabinet had been in contact with the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office and the FGR, and was supporting the efforts to “achieve justice in this case.”
🚨 Sheinbaum confirma que el Gabinete de Seguridad dará más información sobre el caso del delegado de la FGR, Ernesto Vázquez, que fue asesinado en Tamaulipas. pic.twitter.com/AwQhjCoU28
— La Silla Rota (@lasillarota) August 5, 2025
Tamaulipas is known for violent, cartel-related crime, but the security situation in the state has improved in recent years.
In the first half of 2025, there were 110 homicides in the state, according to federal data.
In terms of total murders, Tamaulipas ranked as the 10th least violent state out of Mexico’s 32 federal entities between January and June.
The victim
Vázquez had been the FGR delegate in Tamaulipas since 2019, according to media reports.
His work focused on investigating and prosecuting federal crimes in Tamaulipas and coordinating the FGR’s activities in the state, the news outlet N+ reported.
In Tamaulipas, Vázquez Reyna “coordinated and supervised” investigations into organized crime activity, electoral crimes, drug trafficking and other federal offenses, N+ said.
He also represented the FGR in legal cases related to federal crimes committed in the northern border state.
The news outlet Infobae reported that Vázquez wasn’t widely known outside security and justice circles. “However, his name appeared repeatedly in public activities related to the institutional relationship between the three levels of government,” Infobae said.
The newspaper Milenio reported that Vázquez attended a ceremony with the Tamaulipas governor on July 22 after the FGR donated a helicopter to state authorities to assist their security work.
Milenio also reported that the FGR carried out an operation in Reynosa on July 26 that resulted in the seizure of more than 1.8 million liters of fuel.
With reports from La Jornada, Reforma, Milenio, N+, and Infobae
