A Mexican cartel turned in five of its members who allegedly kidnapped four Americans, including two who were killed, and also shot dead an innocent bystander in the northern border city of Matamoros last Friday.
The five presumed members of the armed wing of the Grupo Escorpiones of the Gulf Cartel were found by the security forces tied up and lying next to a truck on a street in Matamoros.
The group of Americans was reportedly in Mexico to accompany South Carolina resident Latavia McGee to get a discounted tummy tuck. Each year, more than a million Americans seek cheaper cosmetic surgery south of the border.
The criminal organization apologized to the families of the victims for the assault in broad daylight that rocked the border town in front of Brownsville, Texas.
Images that surfaced on social media showed the suspects lying face down on the pavement and sitting against a pickup truck.
Members (pictured) of the Gulf Cartel’s Grupo Escorpiones were abandoned on a Matamoros street and accused by the criminal organization of being behind the kidnapping of four Americans last Friday, including two who were killed. A Mexican woman was also shot to death during the incident.
The Gulf Cartel (CDG) also left a note and “condemned” the kidnappings and murders
The Gulf Cartel (CDG) also left a note on a white placard expressing its deep regret.
‘The Scorpions Group of the Gulf Cartel strongly condemns the events of last Friday, March 3, where unfortunately an ‘innocent’ working mother died and 4 US citizens were ‘kidnapped’ of whom 2 died’, the message written in Spanish reads. .
The criminal organization, which has existed since the 1930s, claimed that the suspects acted on their own.
‘And for this reason, we have decided to deliver those directly involved and responsible for the events who at all times acted under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules that “The CDG” has always operated, respecting the life and integrity of the the innocents,’ said the cartel.
‘The CDG apologizes to Matamorense society, to the relatives of Mrs. Arely, to the American individuals and families affected. The CDG asks society for peace of mind because we promise not to repeat those mistakes caused by indiscipline and the person responsible will pay for it!!’
A spokesperson for the Tamaulipas State Attorney General’s Office told DailyMail.com on Thursday that the five alleged participants have yet to be brought forward on charges.
The prosecutor’s office announced that law enforcement investigators assigned to the kidnapping located and impounded an ambulance that the cartel used to take American victims to a local clinic for treatment after the attack.
South Carolina residents Latavia McGee, her cousin Shaheed Woodward, and their friends Zindell Brown and Eric James crossed into Matamoros around 9 a.m. Friday and were attacked about two hours later, according to the Mexican government.
The Gulf Cartel said that the five individuals “acted under their own determination and indiscipline and against the rules that “The CDG” has always operated, respecting the lives and integrity of the innocent.”
Gulf Cartel henchmen were seen on video forcing McGee into the bed of a pickup truck and dumping the bodies of Woodward, Brown and James into the vehicle.
The three men were allegedly accompanying McGee on the road trip from South Carolina across the border for McGee’s tummy tuck.
Mexican law enforcement officers are investigating the possibility that cartel members kidnapped the Americans thinking they were trespassing on their territory, according to an internal government document seen by Reuters.
DailyMail.com has revealed extensive criminal records of the four kidnapped US citizens and authorities have stated that ‘drug trafficking’ cannot be ‘ruled out’.
McGee, a mother of five, and James, who was shot in the leg, were rescued from a cartel hideout six and a half miles away in the rural town of El Tecolote Tuesday morning. Brown and Woodward were found dead in the house.
Mexican citizen and Matamoros resident Arely Servando, 33, was struck by a stray bullet and died at the scene.
Latavia McGee and Eric James were rescued by security forces Tuesday morning.
Shaheed Woodard and Zindell Brown, two of the Americans kidnapped in Mexico, were found dead on Tuesday.
Arely Servando was caught in the middle of a Gulf Cartel attack on a vehicle with four Americans and was struck by a stray bullet and died in the Mexican border city of Matamoros last Friday.
Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee was found unharmed after she, her cousin and two friends were kidnapped. The mother-of-five was spotted shoeless after surviving the tragic incident along with her friend Eric Williams, who was shot in the left leg.
Mexican officials said McGee’s cousin Shaheed Woodard and his friend Zindell Brown were killed. Their bodies were found in the safe house along with the two survivors.
The officials, who say they are pursuing several lines of inquiry, have produced a short document summarizing the abduction of the Americans and biographical information about them. The metadata of the digital document suggested that it was created on Wednesday.
It included their names, birthdays and addresses, and criminal record details. Among them were drug-related convictions against Brown and Woodard.
In view of previous convictions, “it cannot be ruled out that the attack against (the Americans) could be directly related to drug trafficking operations,” which his assailants believed the Americans might be carrying out, the document says.