According to the media and a source familiar with the investigation, suspected members of a drug cartel have handed over five alleged henchmen as an apparent apology for the abduction of four Americans in the Mexican border city of Matamoros.
Thursday, the Scorpions of the Gulf Cartel extended their apologies to Matamoros residents, the Mexican woman who perished in the shootout with the cartel, and the four Americans and their families.
The letter reads, “We have decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events, who at all times acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline.” It also states that these individuals had violated the rules of the cartel, which include “respecting the life and wellbeing of the innocent.”
On March 3, shortly after the Americans arrived in Matamoros, gunmen opened fire on them, killing two Americans and a Mexican woman. On Monday, the four Americans were discovered on the outskirts of the city, with two of them already dead.
According to the Reuters news agency, Mexican officials delivered the bodies of Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown to US officials in Matamoros on Thursday afternoon. The bodies were then transported across the border into the United States.
According to his father, James Woodard, Woodard’s cousin Latavia McGee had surprised him with the fatal road trip as a birthday getaway. He said that when he heard that the cartel had apologized for the violent kidnapping that resulted in the death of his son and was captured on video that quickly went viral online, he was speechless.
James Woodard stated, “Just being helpless – not being able to do anything, not being able to go there and just rescue them – it’s really painful.”
Mexican security analyst David Saucedo stated that the American killings resulted in National Guard and Army special forces units conducting patrols that, in narcospeak, “heat up the plaza.”
“It is very difficult for them right now to continue working in terms of transferring drugs to the United States and selling drugs on the street; According to Saucedo, “they are the first ones interested in closing this chapter as soon as possible.”
Cooperation among cartels in the community The efforts of cartels in the area of community relations are well-known. In contested territory, one cartel might put up banners all over a city claiming to be a gang that doesn’t mess with civilians and blaming a rival for recent violence.