Gulf Cartel turns over 5 members tied to Americans' kidnapping

July 2024 · 3 minute read

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A secretive faction of Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel apologized and turned in five members who they say are responsible for the broad-daylight kidnapping that killed two Americans last week.

The cartel’s Scorpions group said it “decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events” related to the March 3 abduction of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros, according to a letter leaked to the Associated Press by a Tamaulipas state law enforcement source.

The letter also claimed the five members “acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline” when they attacked victims Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown, and Eric James Williams.

McGee and Williams were found injured but alive in a dingy shack on Tuesday after a four-day search. Woodard and Brown, however, had been shot dead.

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The Gulf Cartel penned a letter to Mexican police that apologized for the kidnapping of four Americans on March 3. Federal Ministerial Police
Authorities seized weapons from the men who said they were responsible for killing the two victims. Federal Ministerial Police
A Mexican soldier guards the Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s headquarters in Matamoros. AP
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The ambush, the letter states, went against the Gulf Cartel’s policy of “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.”

Four US citizens from South Carolina were abducted in Matamoros

The Tamaulipas source also showed the outlet a photograph of the five implicated men lying bound and face-down on the pavement.

A Mexican woman, identified as Arely Servando, was killed by a stray bullet when the drug cartel opened fire during the kidnapping. Facebook/Areli Pablo Servando

A separate source, a state security official, told the Associated Press that the men were found tied up in a vehicle that is at the center of the kidnapping investigation.

Mexican officials did not immediately confirm the reports.

News of the possible arrests comes amid reports that Mexican law enforcement is pursuing a possible drug-trafficking motive for the abduction, which some experts initially speculated was a tragic case of mistaken identity.

The four Americans were kidnapped on March 3, and two were shot dead. REUTERS
The five cartel members men are reportedly in custody, but Mexcian authorities have not confirmed that. REUTERS

All four victims, who were childhood friends from South Carolina, had prior arrests for drug-related incidents.

Matamoros, which is located near the border town of Brownsville, Texas, is a “hot zone” for the Gulf Cartel’s ultra-violent war against its rival Zetas.

“They live off of extortion, kidnapping and protection money,” author Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera told The Post of the Gulf Cartel, which has controlled the region for almost 100 years.

With Post wires

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