Kidnapping in Matamoros, Mexico: 5 more arrested, investigation continues after cartel releases letter of apology



CNN

Mexican authorities have arrested five more people in connection with the attack. abductions of four Americans in Matamoros, Mexico, Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica said on Twitter Friday.

A total of six people were arrested, including one on Tuesday, Barrios Mojica said.

“The Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office (#FGJT) has issued an arrest warrant for five people associated with the March 3 events in Matamoros for crimes such as aggravated kidnapping and premeditated simple murder. Another person arrested in recent days was involved in this process, ”wrote Barrios Mojica.

Previously, the cartel apologized for committing what one victim’s father called a “senseless crime” that killed two Americans and one Mexican.

The case remained “very confusing” for investigators, who were still receiving information about last Friday’s kidnapping and looking at all aspects, a Tamaulipas prosecutor familiar with the investigation told CNN before news of the arrests broke.

On Thursday, the Gulf Cartel, believed to be responsible for the kidnappings, released a letter of apology and the group handed over five of its members to local authorities, according to images circulating online and a version of the letter obtained by CNN from an official familiar with the move. investigation.

CNN is unable to verify the authenticity of the photos and has reached out to Mexican and US authorities for comment.

” [Gulf Cartel] apologizes to the Matamoros community, the relatives of Mr. Areli, and the affected American people and families,” the handwritten letter reads, referring to a Mexican woman who was also killed by a stray bullet in the shootout.

While investigators believe the letter is genuine, Mexican and US law enforcement officials involved in the investigation have strong doubts about the sincerity of the group’s apology, said the official, who shared the letter with CNN.

According to the governor of Tamaulipas, one detainee performed “victim monitoring functions”. On Tuesday, Américo Villarreal said it was 24-year-old José “N.”

Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office identified the man arrested on Tuesday as José Guadalupe “G.” The judge ruled to temporarily detain him for five months to conduct an investigation, the Prosecutor General’s Office said.

Officials have not confirmed whether the man has any ties to criminal organizations.

(Left to right) LaTavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams survived the kidnapping, while Shaid Woodard and Zindell Brown were killed.

The bodies of the two slain Americans – Shaid Woodard and Zindell Brown – were delivered to US diplomatic authorities on Thursday after undergoing a forensic examination, Barrios Mojica said on Twitter.

“I’ve been trying to figure it out and I’ve tried to be firm about it,” Woodard’s father, James Woodard, told reporters on Thursday, when his son would have turned 34. “It was just a senseless crime.”

The two survivors, Latavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams, returned to the US on Tuesday for treatment at a hospital. Williams, who was shot three times in the legs, has since undergone two surgeries and had rods inserted in his legs, his wife said on a GoFundMe page to raise money for Williams’ medical expenses and living expenses.

A fifth member of the American group, Cheryl Orange, planned to travel with the group on the day of the abduction, but she had to stay because she did not have the proper ID to cross the border. She told CNN she struggled with guilt for almost missing the attack.

“At first I reproached myself for it, and everyone told me that I should be grateful. I really want to be around Tay,” Orange said, referring to her “best friend” “Tay” Washington McGee.

A close-knit group traveled from South Carolina to Matamoros so that Washington McGee could undergo a medical procedure. But the friends were brutally intercepted by gunmen who opened fire on the Americans’ van, rudely loaded them into the back of the truck and drove away, according to Washington McGee’s mother and a video of the meeting.

The victims were taken to several locations before being found in a house in the Matamoros area on Tuesday, Villarreal said. Since then, the Tamaulipas prosecutor’s office has found an ambulance used to transport victims for first aid to a clinic that authorities also found, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

When a group of friends moved into Matamoros last Friday, Orange stayed at their hotel in Brownsville, Texas, growing increasingly worried as evening fell and the friends didn’t return. said Anderson Cooper of CNN Thursday.

“I said something was wrong,” Orange said. She turned to her boyfriend and brother Washington McGee to say she was worried.

According to Orange, when it was time to check out of the hotel the next morning, Washington McGee and the others were still nowhere to be seen. At that moment, she became so worried that she decided to call the police.

According to a police report, Orange reported the missing group on Saturday to Brownsville police. The report said police checked the local jail to make sure none of the band members had been taken into custody, but no other action was taken.

Eventually, Orange saw a video of the kidnapping that was circulating on the internet, showing Washington McGee being pushed into the back of a truck by armed gunmen, while the bodies of other victims were dragged alongside her.

“My body cramped. I hung up. My stomach was in knots and I just started praying for them to come back,” she said after seeing the video.

Finally hearing Washington McGee’s voice after being found alive, Orange felt somewhat relieved. “That calmed me down a bit. For me, it was music to my ears when I heard her voice,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Woodard and Brown families are forced to deal with the loss of their loved ones.

“It was hard for me to watch these videos and see him being dragged and thrown on the back of the car. It was like God was preparing me for what I knew was probably the worst,” Woodard’s father said of watching the video of the kidnapping.

Woodard accompanied his cousin Washington McGee to Mexico for surgery and also to celebrate his upcoming 34th birthday, his father said. He described his son as “beloved” and “a loving person”.

“If you told me this day would come, I would never have believed it,” said James Woodard. He later added, “A parent never expects to lose a child.”

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials suspect the Gulf Cartel’s apology letter was released after the kidnapping brought the cartel significant public attention and scrutiny, according to a U.S. official who confirmed the letter’s authenticity.

In its letter, the cartel apologized to “the Matamoros community, the relatives of Mr. Areli, and the affected American people and families,” referring to the Mexican woman who was killed by a stray bullet.

According to Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a professor at George Mason University who studies cartels, Mexican cartels, especially in the northeast of the country, often relay messages to authorities or rival groups after high-profile incidents. .

The apology came after the arrest of a local Gulf Cartel leader who was wanted for past kidnappings in the town of Reynosa, about 55 miles west of Matamoros, according to a US official briefed on the detention.

Any connection to the kidnapping of the Americans last week is unclear. But, according to CNN, the official believes members of the Gulf Cartel attacked Americans in Matamoros after mistaking them for Haitian drug smugglers.

The source added that local cartel leader Ernesto Sanchez-Rivera, also known as “Metro 22”, is also known for his ties to the Jalisco New Generation cartel.

CNN has reached out to the local prosecutor for more information about the detention, but has yet to receive a response.

The kidnapping of Americans prompted increased scrutiny of efforts to combat cartel violence in Mexico, including from Republican lawmakers in the US, who have called for the cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations and have announced their plans to file legislation allowing the US military to operate in Mexico.

Pressure from Republicans was met with a swift rebuke from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who said the actions would violate Mexico’s sovereignty.