Mexican Kidnappings: Cartel Offers Apology Letter And Five Suspects For Killing US Citizens!
WashingtonExaminer.com, By Anna Giaritelli, Homeland Security Reporter, Posted March 14th 2023
Mexican kidnappings: Cartel offers apology letter and five suspects for killing US citizens
A Mexican cartel claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and murder of U.S. citizens in Mexico’s northern city of Matamoros last week and offered an apology to the U.S. government and the victims’ families.
The Gulf Cartel, one of the most powerful and violent in all of Mexico, offered up the five members it said were responsible for going rogue and attacking the white minivan on March 3 shortly after it crossed the border from Brownsville, Texas, into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, according to reports.
Five men from the Scorpions faction of the Gulf Cartel were found by Mexican authorities locked inside a black vehicle that had Texas registration plates. A note left on the vehicle stated that the cartel wanted to make things right and chose to hand over the ones who it claimed were responsible for the attack.
“The men responsible for these actions acted under their own will and lack of discipline against the CDG [Gulf Cartel] rules. We apologize to the family of Miss Arely and the rest of the American families,” stated the letter that was left on the vehicle.
The letter asked for the “American families and people in Matamoros” to forgive them for the attack that led to the deaths of two of the Americans and a local woman who was struck by a stray bullet.
Vice News reporter Luis Chaparro, who regularly embeds with cartels through Mexico, noted that the men handed over to authorities may not be cartel members but scapegoats. Chaparro added that “a cartel leader may have authorized the attack then regretted it and decided to offer sacrificial lambs to police.”
The March 3 fatal kidnapping involved U.S citizens — Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, LaTavia Washington McGee, and Eric Williams — reportedly traveling to Mexico for a tummy tuck procedure. Pictures from the scene showed a sign pointing toward the international bridge in the background, an indication of just how close the attack was to the border. The group’s vehicle crashed and was shot by attackers. The four passengers were pulled from the van, loaded into a pickup truck, and taken away by heavily armed narcos.
Woodard and Brown were killed in Mexico, while McGee and Williams were rescued and brought back to the United States.
The Mexican victim was identified as Areli Pablo Servando.
Tamaulipas has been under a “no travel” warning for Americans. Only two of Mexico’s 32 states nationwide have no State Department warning against travel.