The four Americans had crossed the border into North Carolina before being attacked by gunfire in the border town of Matamoros and then kidnapped by gunmen.
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 3/10/2023 at 8:24 PM, updated 3/10/2023 at 8:44 PM
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The five suspects between two police officers at the Tamaulipas State Attorney General’s offices in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico March 10, 2023. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE/ Portal
Mexican authorities on Friday (March 10) announced the arrest of five people suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of four Americans and the killing of two of them a week ago in Matamoros, in the north-east of the country.
These are the five men suspected members of the Gulf Cartel (CDG) allegedly left on a street in Matamoros on Thursday, March 9, accusing them of carrying out the kidnapping without the authorization of their leaders within this organization, the shared prosecutor of the AFP news agency.
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A letter of apology
Earlier, Tamaulipas District Attorney Irving Barrios tweeted that he had “issued an arrest warrant for five people in connection with the March 3 events in Matamoros on counts of aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder.”
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On Thursday, without official confirmation, local media reported that the Gulf cartel had issued a letter of apology for the kidnapping and two murders and turned the alleged perpetrators over to authorities. So far, the Mexican prosecutor’s office had only reported the arrest of a single suspect who was standing guard near the abductees.
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The Hypothesis of a “Misunderstanding”
The four Americans had crossed the border at the wheel of a North Carolina-registered white minivan before being ambushed by gunfire and then kidnapped by gunmen in the border town of Matamoros. The Mexican authorities quickly conjured up the hypothesis of a “misunderstanding”.
Of the four Americans kidnapped, two died and two were later found on the outskirts of Matamoros, one with gunshot wounds and the other unharmed. A Mexican passer-by was also killed in the exchange of fire. The bodies of the two dead Americans were shipped to the United States on Thursday, authorities said.
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