Texas Rancher Loses Life in Fatal Explosion from Cartel Bomb

A Texas rancher was killed after he drove over a homemade bomb in his truck, detonating the explosion. Of the three people inside the vehicle, only one survived with major injuries. 

A South Texas Tragedy

According to reports, 74-year-old Antonio Céspedes Saldierna, a resident of Brownsville, TX, was on a ranch he also owned in San Fernando, Tamaulipas, Mexico, just two hours south of the Texas border when the tragedy occurred.  

Saldierna was joined in the vehicle by another man, Horacio Lopez Peña, and Peña’s wife, Ninfa Griselda Ortega. After the device exploded, Ortega was the only survivor before being rushed to the hospital. 

KRGV in Rio Grande Valley stated that Mexican officials gave explanations for what most likely happened. Apparently, Tamaulipas government has recently been urging residents to avoid rural roads around San Fernando.

What Saldierna fell victim to on his ranch was called an IED, or improvised explosive device. These IEDs are often placed at strategic areas by organized crime factions to keep rivals off their territory.

Burial services for Saldierna were held earlier this week, and his family chooses to remember the lasting legacy that he brought as a father, a husband, and a rancher.

A Message From Sid Miller

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller sent out a statement regarding cartel violence and the risk it poses on both Mexican and Texan citizens.

I urge all Texas farmers, ranchers, and agricultural workers who travel to Mexico or operate near the border to exercise extreme caution.

Commissioner Miller also advises all agriculture workers who have business along the border to avoid dirt roads and remote areas. He also recommends they avoid touching odd objects on the ground, only travel during the day, stay on main roads, and avoid regions with known cartel activity.