Mexican cartel apologizes for the kidnapping and murder of Americans: the police surrendered those responsible

A Mexican drug cartel that claims its members were behind the brazen kidnapping of four Americans has turned in five members and left an apology note. The edition told in more detail USA Today.

Photo: IStock

Photos circulating on social media show five men with their hands tied on the sidewalk (four of them shirtless) in front of a pickup truck with a handwritten letter of apology on the windshield.

The journalists managed to obtain a copy of the letter from a law enforcement source in Tamaulipas, the Mexican state where the Americans were attacked. Two of them were killed and another wounded in a shootout on March 3 shortly after arriving in the border town of Matamoros for cosmetic surgery.

Authorities said cartel members likely mistook them for drug smugglers and kidnapped them after they shot at their van.

In the letter, the Scorpion faction of the cartel apologized to the residents of Matamoros, a Mexican woman killed by a stray bullet, as well as four Americans and their families.

“We have decided to extradite those who were directly involved and responsible for the events, who acted in accordance with their own decisions and indiscipline,” the letter says, which says that these people acted against the rules of the cartel.

Journalists, among other things, received a photograph of men lying face down on the ground. They were found, along with a letter, bound inside one of the vehicles wanted by the authorities.

Bodies returned to US authorities

Tamaulipas officials have not publicly confirmed the presence of new suspects. The attorney general's office said they cordoned off an ambulance and a medical clinic in Matamoros, which were being used to provide first aid to injured Americans.

On the subject: Illegal business on refugees: how the Mexican police, 'helpers' and cartels make money on those who want to get to the USA

Zindell Brown and Shaid Woodard died in the attack; Eric Williams, having been shot in the leg, survived, while Latavia McGee was unharmed.

The two survivors have been returned to the US and are being treated. The remains of Woodard and Brown were handed over to US authorities after the autopsy.

Apologies won't end the pain

According to Jerry Wallace, Williams' cousin, the family is glad that he is alive, but does not accept the cartel's apology.

"It won't change anything about the suffering we've been through," said Wallace, 62, who urged the US and Mexican governments to better deal with cartel violence.

Jerry Robinett, a former special agent in charge of national security investigations in San Antonio, is not surprised that the cartel turned over five people he claims were involved in the attack to Mexican authorities.

“Many times we have seen the cartel do this themselves,” he said. - It's bad for their business. They will clean up their mess.”

According to Robinett, warrants will then be issued for their extradition to the United States to face criminal charges. Federal investigators will still try to determine what role the men played in the shooting. According to him, the US authorities may be unhappy with the capture of criminals.

"It's great to identify those most directly involved in the violence, but that's only part of the story," Robinett said. “It is critical that the investigation extends beyond the individuals who actually pulled the trigger.”

At first there were 5 Americans

Police in Brownsville, Texas, where the travelers crossed into Mexico, said they were aware of the events in Matamoros.

Police spokesman Martin Sandoval said the FBI was trying to confirm if the people in the photo were indeed suspects.

Sandoval confirmed that police located a fifth member of the travel group, Cheryl Orange, who remained in Brownsville because she forgot the necessary documents. The group traveled from South Carolina to Mexico to have one of the members, Latavia McGee, undergo what was originally called a tummy tuck, although Orange told police it was actually a "buttock augmentation".

Orange first alerted authorities to concerns about their safety when she called police the day after the other four crossed the border. Orange told police that she last saw the group at 08:00 on March 3, when they left a motel in Brownsville for Matamoros in a rented white minivan with North Carolina license plates.

According to the police report, the group planned to return in time to leave the motel on Saturday.

Orange stated that she had not heard from them since that day.

"Bunch of thugs"

Alejandro Hope, a former Mexican intelligence official, said various factions of the cartel are fighting each other in Matamoros over arrests and splitting into rival groups vying for control of lucrative acreage used to transport drugs to the US.

You may be interested in: top New York news, stories of our immigrants and helpful tips about life in the Big Apple - read it all on ForumDaily New York

In recent years, warring factions, operating with impunity due to the inefficiency and corruption of local authorities in Mexico, have made a lot of money from extortion, robbery and other violent crimes, he said.

Hope suggested that the attack on the Americans may have begun as a robbery and then escalated into an international incident, prompting cartel leaders to offer the five men as scapegoats.

"They call themselves a cartel, but they're really a bunch of thugs," said Hope, a security consultant and partner at GEA Grupo de Economistas y Asociados in Mexico.

He noted that law enforcement officials on both sides of the border are cooperating closely and are likely to continue to do so.

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• 4 US citizens went missing on March 3 after being attacked and kidnapped in Matamoros.
• On March 7, two of the four Americans who were abducted on March 3 by armed gunmen in a Mexican border town were found dead and two were found alive.
• The kidnapping and murder of U.S. travelers has drawn attention to the violence in Mexico, which welcomes millions of foreign visitors every year. And as the holiday season begins at popular beach resorts in the west and south of the country, safety is likely to come first. Here is what you need to know about travel safety in Mexico.

Read also on ForumDaily:

What the Number Codes the IRS Assigns to Our Tax Returns Mean: You Can Learn a Lot from Them

Beer soup, 'garbage plate' and fried cucumbers: what dish to try in every state of America

Is traveling to Mexico dangerous: where Americans should not go at all

Programming, Cooking, Medicine: 38 Free Courses from Harvard University

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.