Two of four U.S. citizens kidnapped at gunpoint last week in northern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday, while two others were rescued and transported to the United States.
The Americans were located Tuesday morning in a small house in a field outside the violent border city of Matamoros, said Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas state. Mexican authorities detained one suspect, whom they identified only as Jose Guadalupe N., 23, who they said was a guard at the house.
The two survivors — Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams, who was wounded in his left leg — were ferried in a convoy of ambulances and law enforcement vehicles to the border and handed over to U.S. authorities in Brownsville, Texas, Barrios said.
The dramatic rescue operation came four days after the group of tourists was apparently caught by mistake in a gunfight among rival cartel groups in a busy downtown stretch of Matamoros. A video showed them subsequently being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen.
Their disappearance sparked a major international incident, with the FBI launching an investigation, the White House expressing its concern and some Republican members of Congress using the incident to call for the intervention of the U.S. military in Mexico.
“This tragic incident only highlights a rising preoccupation in the United States about Mexico’s lack of interest in facing down organized crime,” said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute. The kidnapping in Matamoros, he said, “has become a symbol of impunity in Mexico.”
The kidnapping and deaths threatened to further inflame already high binational tensions over Mexico’s security strategy and the nation’s willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies to fight organized crime.
U.S. authorities have grown increasingly critical of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador‘s “hugs not bullets” crime-fighting strategy, which purports to emphasize social programs over violent confrontations with criminal groups, as well as his protection of a former defense minister charged by the U.S. for collaborating with organized crime.
The Americans who were killed have been identified by various news outlets as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.
Family members told news outlets that the four arrived in Matamoros on Friday so that McGee could receive medical treatment.
Each year, thousands of U.S. citizens seek pharmaceuticals and medical procedures in Mexico, where drugs and treatments are generally much cheaper than in the United States.
According to the FBI, the four were in a van with North Carolina license plates when “unidentified gunmen” fired on their vehicle. The four were then abducted by armed assailants, the FBI said. Mexican authorities said a Mexican citizen was killed in the shootout.
Such incidents are common in Tamaulipas state, which has long been one of the most violent and lawless regions of Mexico. The state regularly is among the top-ranking regions for homicides, kidnappings and “disappearances,” although the vast majority of victims are Mexicans.
That the victims this time were Americans immediately made the incident international news.
The attack came at a time when U.S. officials along the border and in Washington have become increasingly preoccupied with violence in Mexico.
Several prominent Republicans, including former U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr, have called in recent months for Mexican cartels to be designated as “terrorist organizations.” And on Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he plans to introduce legislation to “set the stage” for the use of U.S. military force in Mexico, saying, “If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States.”
A formal terrorist designation for the cartels is highly unlikely, and legislation sending troops to Mexico is practically inconceivable, given the two countries’ close relations on other fronts, including trade and migration.
In his morning news conference Tuesday, López Obrador voiced hope that the incident would not sour U.S.-Mexico relations.
“We are working daily to guarantee peace, security,” the president said. “We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims.”
Special correspondents Cecilia Sánchez in Mexico City and Juan José Ramírez in Matamoros and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two of four U.S. citizens kidnapped at gunpoint last week in northern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday, while two others were rescued and transported to the United States.
The Americans were located Tuesday morning in a small house in a field outside the violent border city of Matamoros, said Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas state. Mexican authorities detained one suspect, whom they identified only as Jose Guadalupe N., 23, who they said was a guard at the house.
The two survivors — Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams, who was wounded in his left leg — were ferried in a convoy of ambulances and law enforcement vehicles to the border and handed over to U.S. authorities in Brownsville, Texas, Barrios said.
The dramatic rescue operation came four days after the group of tourists was apparently caught by mistake in a gunfight among rival cartel groups in a busy downtown stretch of Matamoros. A video showed them subsequently being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen.
Their disappearance sparked a major international incident, with the FBI launching an investigation, the White House expressing its concern and some Republican members of Congress using the incident to call for the intervention of the U.S. military in Mexico.
“This tragic incident only highlights a rising preoccupation in the United States about Mexico’s lack of interest in facing down organized crime,” said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute. The kidnapping in Matamoros, he said, “has become a symbol of impunity in Mexico.”
The kidnapping and deaths threatened to further inflame already high binational tensions over Mexico’s security strategy and the nation’s willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies to fight organized crime.
U.S. authorities have grown increasingly critical of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador‘s “hugs not bullets” crime-fighting strategy, which purports to emphasize social programs over violent confrontations with criminal groups, as well as his protection of a former defense minister charged by the U.S. for collaborating with organized crime.
The Americans who were killed have been identified by various news outlets as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.
Family members told news outlets that the four arrived in Matamoros on Friday so that McGee could receive medical treatment.
Each year, thousands of U.S. citizens seek pharmaceuticals and medical procedures in Mexico, where drugs and treatments are generally much cheaper than in the United States.
According to the FBI, the four were in a van with North Carolina license plates when “unidentified gunmen” fired on their vehicle. The four were then abducted by armed assailants, the FBI said. Mexican authorities said a Mexican citizen was killed in the shootout.
Such incidents are common in Tamaulipas state, which has long been one of the most violent and lawless regions of Mexico. The state regularly is among the top-ranking regions for homicides, kidnappings and “disappearances,” although the vast majority of victims are Mexicans.
That the victims this time were Americans immediately made the incident international news.
The attack came at a time when U.S. officials along the border and in Washington have become increasingly preoccupied with violence in Mexico.
Several prominent Republicans, including former U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr, have called in recent months for Mexican cartels to be designated as “terrorist organizations.” And on Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he plans to introduce legislation to “set the stage” for the use of U.S. military force in Mexico, saying, “If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States.”
A formal terrorist designation for the cartels is highly unlikely, and legislation sending troops to Mexico is practically inconceivable, given the two countries’ close relations on other fronts, including trade and migration.
In his morning news conference Tuesday, López Obrador voiced hope that the incident would not sour U.S.-Mexico relations.
“We are working daily to guarantee peace, security,” the president said. “We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims.”
Special correspondents Cecilia Sánchez in Mexico City and Juan José Ramírez in Matamoros and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two of four U.S. citizens kidnapped at gunpoint last week in northern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday, while two others were rescued and transported to the United States.
The Americans were located Tuesday morning in a small house in a field outside the violent border city of Matamoros, said Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas state. Mexican authorities detained one suspect, whom they identified only as Jose Guadalupe N., 23, who they said was a guard at the house.
The two survivors — Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams, who was wounded in his left leg — were ferried in a convoy of ambulances and law enforcement vehicles to the border and handed over to U.S. authorities in Brownsville, Texas, Barrios said.
The dramatic rescue operation came four days after the group of tourists was apparently caught by mistake in a gunfight among rival cartel groups in a busy downtown stretch of Matamoros. A video showed them subsequently being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen.
Their disappearance sparked a major international incident, with the FBI launching an investigation, the White House expressing its concern and some Republican members of Congress using the incident to call for the intervention of the U.S. military in Mexico.
“This tragic incident only highlights a rising preoccupation in the United States about Mexico’s lack of interest in facing down organized crime,” said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute. The kidnapping in Matamoros, he said, “has become a symbol of impunity in Mexico.”
The kidnapping and deaths threatened to further inflame already high binational tensions over Mexico’s security strategy and the nation’s willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies to fight organized crime.
U.S. authorities have grown increasingly critical of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador‘s “hugs not bullets” crime-fighting strategy, which purports to emphasize social programs over violent confrontations with criminal groups, as well as his protection of a former defense minister charged by the U.S. for collaborating with organized crime.
The Americans who were killed have been identified by various news outlets as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.
Family members told news outlets that the four arrived in Matamoros on Friday so that McGee could receive medical treatment.
Each year, thousands of U.S. citizens seek pharmaceuticals and medical procedures in Mexico, where drugs and treatments are generally much cheaper than in the United States.
According to the FBI, the four were in a van with North Carolina license plates when “unidentified gunmen” fired on their vehicle. The four were then abducted by armed assailants, the FBI said. Mexican authorities said a Mexican citizen was killed in the shootout.
Such incidents are common in Tamaulipas state, which has long been one of the most violent and lawless regions of Mexico. The state regularly is among the top-ranking regions for homicides, kidnappings and “disappearances,” although the vast majority of victims are Mexicans.
That the victims this time were Americans immediately made the incident international news.
The attack came at a time when U.S. officials along the border and in Washington have become increasingly preoccupied with violence in Mexico.
Several prominent Republicans, including former U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr, have called in recent months for Mexican cartels to be designated as “terrorist organizations.” And on Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he plans to introduce legislation to “set the stage” for the use of U.S. military force in Mexico, saying, “If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States.”
A formal terrorist designation for the cartels is highly unlikely, and legislation sending troops to Mexico is practically inconceivable, given the two countries’ close relations on other fronts, including trade and migration.
In his morning news conference Tuesday, López Obrador voiced hope that the incident would not sour U.S.-Mexico relations.
“We are working daily to guarantee peace, security,” the president said. “We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims.”
Special correspondents Cecilia Sánchez in Mexico City and Juan José Ramírez in Matamoros and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two of four U.S. citizens kidnapped at gunpoint last week in northern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday, while two others were rescued and transported to the United States.
The Americans were located Tuesday morning in a small house in a field outside the violent border city of Matamoros, said Irving Barrios Mojica, the attorney general of Tamaulipas state. Mexican authorities detained one suspect, whom they identified only as Jose Guadalupe N., 23, who they said was a guard at the house.
The two survivors — Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams, who was wounded in his left leg — were ferried in a convoy of ambulances and law enforcement vehicles to the border and handed over to U.S. authorities in Brownsville, Texas, Barrios said.
The dramatic rescue operation came four days after the group of tourists was apparently caught by mistake in a gunfight among rival cartel groups in a busy downtown stretch of Matamoros. A video showed them subsequently being loaded into the back of a pickup truck by gunmen.
Their disappearance sparked a major international incident, with the FBI launching an investigation, the White House expressing its concern and some Republican members of Congress using the incident to call for the intervention of the U.S. military in Mexico.
“This tragic incident only highlights a rising preoccupation in the United States about Mexico’s lack of interest in facing down organized crime,” said Tony Payan, director of the Mexico Center at Rice University’s Baker Institute. The kidnapping in Matamoros, he said, “has become a symbol of impunity in Mexico.”
The kidnapping and deaths threatened to further inflame already high binational tensions over Mexico’s security strategy and the nation’s willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies to fight organized crime.
U.S. authorities have grown increasingly critical of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador‘s “hugs not bullets” crime-fighting strategy, which purports to emphasize social programs over violent confrontations with criminal groups, as well as his protection of a former defense minister charged by the U.S. for collaborating with organized crime.
The Americans who were killed have been identified by various news outlets as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown.
Family members told news outlets that the four arrived in Matamoros on Friday so that McGee could receive medical treatment.
Each year, thousands of U.S. citizens seek pharmaceuticals and medical procedures in Mexico, where drugs and treatments are generally much cheaper than in the United States.
According to the FBI, the four were in a van with North Carolina license plates when “unidentified gunmen” fired on their vehicle. The four were then abducted by armed assailants, the FBI said. Mexican authorities said a Mexican citizen was killed in the shootout.
Such incidents are common in Tamaulipas state, which has long been one of the most violent and lawless regions of Mexico. The state regularly is among the top-ranking regions for homicides, kidnappings and “disappearances,” although the vast majority of victims are Mexicans.
That the victims this time were Americans immediately made the incident international news.
The attack came at a time when U.S. officials along the border and in Washington have become increasingly preoccupied with violence in Mexico.
Several prominent Republicans, including former U.S. Atty. Gen. William Barr, have called in recent months for Mexican cartels to be designated as “terrorist organizations.” And on Monday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he plans to introduce legislation to “set the stage” for the use of U.S. military force in Mexico, saying, “If you continue to give safe haven to drug dealers, then you are an enemy of the United States.”
A formal terrorist designation for the cartels is highly unlikely, and legislation sending troops to Mexico is practically inconceivable, given the two countries’ close relations on other fronts, including trade and migration.
In his morning news conference Tuesday, López Obrador voiced hope that the incident would not sour U.S.-Mexico relations.
“We are working daily to guarantee peace, security,” the president said. “We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims.”
Special correspondents Cecilia Sánchez in Mexico City and Juan José Ramírez in Matamoros and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
