Kidnapping and murder of Americans: 5 arrested
Five people suspected of kidnapping four Americans and murdering two of them in Matamoros a week ago have been arrested.
On Thursday, local media reported, without official confirmation, that the Gulf cartel had issued a letter of apology for the kidnapping and two murders and handed over the accused to the authorities (description).
AFP
Mexican authorities announced Friday that they had arrested five men suspected of kidnapping four Americans a week ago and killing two of them in Matamoros, in the northeast of the country.
These are the five alleged members of the Gulf Cartel (CTG) who were allegedly abandoned on a street in Matamoros on Thursday, a source from the prosecution told AFP, alleging they were kidnapped without the consent of their leaders in the criminal organization. .
Earlier Tamaulipas State Attorney Irving Barrios tweeted that “an arrest warrant has been executed for five people in connection with the March 3 events in Matamoros for aggravated kidnapping and murder. Willful.”
A favorite “misunderstanding” thesis
On Thursday, local media reported, without official confirmation, that the Gulf cartel had apologized for the kidnapping and two murders and handed over the perpetrators to authorities. So far, the Mexican attorney general’s office has announced the arrest of only one suspect who stood guard near the abductees.
Four Americans crossed the border at the wheel of a white minivan registered in North Carolina, were shot at and then kidnapped by armed men in the border town of Matamoros. Mexican officials were quick to invoke the “misunderstanding” hypothesis.
Of the four kidnapped Americans, two died and two were later found, one with gunshot wounds and the other unharmed, on the outskirts of Matamoros. A Mexican national was also killed in the gunfight. The bodies of the two dead Americans were returned to the United States on Thursday, officials said.
Deploying US troops
US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar told a news conference that Washington would remain active “until the perpetrators are brought to justice”, noting that the Americans were “working with the support of the Mexican government”. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said the question of whether the country’s attorney general’s office will pursue the case remains unclear. He also referred to reports that these Americans have criminal records in his country.
Following this tragic incident, Republican congressmen called for US troops to be sent to fight drug cartels in Mexico. Mr. López Obrador described the initiative as “arrogant” and disrespectful of his country’s sovereignty, calling those within Congress who wrote the proposal “lazy”. In a speech published Friday in the Wall Street Journal, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard supported the Mexican president’s position.
Fentanyl at the heart of tensions
“We are an important partner of the United States and we must be treated with respect,” wrote Marcelo Ebrard in response to an article by former US Justice Secretary William Barr supporting the initiative for military intervention in Mexico.
Republican lawmakers want Washington to designate Mexican criminal gangs that traffic fentanyl, a synthetic drug 50 times more potent than heroin, as “terrorists.” The production and trafficking of this substance, which has killed tens of thousands of Americans, is controlled by Mexican cartels. Mr López Obrador said 6 tonnes of fentanyl had been seized since taking office in December 2018. The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has urged Mexico to “do more” against these cartels.
AFP
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