Two of the four Americans kidnapped last Friday in the city of MatamorosTamaulipas, in northeastern Mexico, were found dead on Tuesday, Mexican authorities said, which has launched an operation to repatriate the victims.
The discovery was confirmed by the governor of the state of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, in a phone call during the daily conference of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who announced the arrest of a suspect.
“Of the four (Americans) there are two dead,” said the governor of this border state, who said the other two hostages are alive, one of them wounded.
Authorities continued to fail to identify the victims. Now the shocking video of the seizure and transfer of the bodies by drug traffickers has been released.
Americans kidnapped in Mexico
The pictures show the moment when four kidnapped Americans are forced into the back of a pickup truck after being killed in Mexicoin a possible case of mistaken identity.
The US embassy in Mexico City reported Sunday that Americans crossed the border into the city of Matamoros on Friday, in the crime-ridden state of Tamaulipas in a white minivan with North Carolina plates, and were shot shortly thereafter.
The video shows men in bulletproof vests dragging a person along the ground and violently shoving a woman into the bed of a white pickup truck.
Next, the suspects grab two men who appear to be injured or dead and throw their bodies onto the same platform.
The violent events of Tamaulipas
Villarreal, Governor of Tamaulipas, did not detail the circumstances of the discovery of the bodies, which took place in a peripheral area of Matamoros, about 15 kilometers from the center and near a road that connects the city with Baghdad beach, according to an AFP contributor.
Hours later, a caravan of about 20 vehicles including ambulances and vans from various security agencies He moved from the prosecutor’s office to one of the border bridges connecting Matamoros with the US city of Brownsville.
“Federal and state agencies, staffed by the #US Consulate in #Matamoros, delivered 2 citizens of that country over an international bridge, located today [martes] after being deprived of liberty on March 3,” State Attorney Irving Barrios wrote on Twitter.
The official did not specify whether the foreigners handed over were the survivors or the deceased.
“We will work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case,” White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday.
During the kidnapping, carried out by armed men, a Mexican citizen was also killed, the authorities announced on Monday.
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.