Drug cartel's surveillance cameras tapped electricity, Internet in Mexican border city

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico – Authorities in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas have seized 39 surveillance cameras set up by a drug cartel in the city of Reynosa across the border from Texas.

State authorities said Friday in a statement that the cameras were powered by electric lines above the city streets and accessed the Internet through phone cables along the same poles. The revelation came one day after President Enrique Pena Nieto visited the city.

Several of the cameras were trained on an army base, while others captured the scene outside offices of the attorney general and other government agencies. Authorities did not identify the cartel.

Reynosa, which is across the border from McAllen, Texas, has been the scene of intense violence in recent months between suspected factions of the Gulf cartel.