Mexican law enforcement agents are investigating the possibility that members of a drug cartel kidnapped four Americans last Friday thinking that they were encroaching on their turf, according to an internal government document seen by Reuters.
DailyMail.com revealed lengthy rap sheets for the four kidnapped U.S. citizens with authorities stating ‘drug trafficking’ cannot be ‘ruled out.’
Two of the Americans, identified by Mexican officials as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, were found dead on Monday in a wood cabin southeast of Matamoros, the border city in the state of Tamaulipas where the four were abducted on Friday.
Alongside them were their surviving companions, identified as Latavia McGee and Eric James Williams.
Mexican officials, who say they are pursuing various lines of inquiry, drew up a brief document summarizing the abduction of the Americans and biographical information on them. The metadata of the digital document suggested it was created on Wednesday.
Mexican law enforcement agents are investigating the possibility that members of a drug cartel kidnapped four Americans last Friday thinking that they were encroaching on their turf
Two of the Americans, identified by Mexican officials as Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, were found dead on Monday in a wood cabin southeast of Matamoros
It included their names, birthdays and addresses, and details of criminal records. Among them were convictions for drug-related offenses against Brown and Woodard.
In view of the prior convictions, ‘it cannot be ruled out that the attack against (the Americans) could be directly linked to drug trafficking operations,’ which their assailants believed the Americans could be carrying out, the document said.
Reuters left voicemails and sent messages on social media to people identified by public records as relatives of the four, as well as at a number for Williams, but without response.
A Reuters review of South Carolina state records found that Woodard was convicted five times between 2007 and 2016 of drug crimes. Nearly all were minor offenses, but they included one of manufacturing banned narcotics with the intent to distribute.
Brown was convicted twice in 2015 for possessing small amounts of marijuana or concentrated cannabis, records show.
The records also showed that Williams was in 2017 convicted for the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, though this was not mentioned in the Mexican document seen by Reuters.
Americo Villarreal, governor of Tamaulipas, said during a news conference on Monday that the group had gone to Matamoros because McGee was planning to have some cosmetic surgery done, citing testimony from their relatives and U.S. officials.
Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios told the same news conference the four were likely mistaken for somebody else, while stressing that other lines of investigation remained open.
Forensic technicians were seen working at the scene where authorities found the bodies of two of four Americans kidnapped by gunmen
24-year-old Jose ‘N’ was arrested in connection with the incident Mexican officials say he was in charge of monitoring the victims
Military personnel kept watch at the scene where authorities found the bodies
Reuters could not ascertain how a drug gang might have known Americans with drug convictions were arriving in Matamoros.
It is also not clear if Mexican authorities have other evidence that might point to a drug-related motive for the abduction, which occurred in broad daylight.
The document seen by Reuters stated that a faction of the Gulf Cartel had an ‘iron grip’ on illegal activities in the area, and pointed to members of the group as likely perpetrators of the kidnapping on the basis of intelligence gathered.
Mexico’s security ministry did not reply to requests for comment about the document. The Tamaulipas attorney general’s office said it did not have evidence to confirm or reject the information. The FBI declined to comment.
Tamaulipas attorney general Barrios said on Monday that Mexico’s Gulf Cartel is known to operate in the area but did not explicitly blame it for the kidnapping.
The four Americans passed through Brownsville, Texas, on their way into Mexico last week. A concerned friend of McGee’s told Brownsville police on Saturday that she had not heard from the group since Friday morning, and ‘would not be surprised if her friends got arrested because they are known to party and use narcotics’, according to the police report.
Mexican officials have not yet specified the cause of death of Brown and Woodard. Their bodies are due to be returned to the United States from Mexico very soon.
DailyMail.com revealed that Williams was previously busted for ‘distributing crack near a school,’ while McGee has been slapped with ‘unlawful conduct towards a child,’ when her daughter tested positive for amphetamines.
Woodard was charged with the ‘manufacturing and possession’ of drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged for ‘possession of marijuana or hashish.’
The four were found in a rundown stash house near a place known as La Lagunona in the town of El Tecolote – about six-and-a-half-miles from where they were taken.
Mexican officials said they believe the incident is connected to the notorious ‘Gulf Cartel’ who are prominent in the region.
Local Mexican outlets reported five people handcuffed —alive— were found on the night of March 8, in the streets of downtown Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
Lativa ‘Tay’ McGee was found uninjured after she, her cousin and two friends were kidnapped. The mother-of-five was seen without shoes after surviving the tragic incident along with friend Eric Williams who was shot in the left leg
DailyMail.com revealed lengthy rap sheets for all four victims of the Mexico kidnapping. Woodard was charged with the ‘manufacturing and possession’ of drugs and pleaded guilty, while Brown was also charged for ‘possession of marijuana or hashish’
They had cardboard signs with them pointing them out as those responsible for the kidnapping of the ‘tummy tuck four’.
Earlier this week at least one person had been arrested in connection with the incident.
The surviving Americans were taken to the border near Brownsville, Texas, in a convoy of Mexican ambulances and SUVs on Tuesday. They were then delivered to U.S. consulate officials.
In a press conference on Tuesday afternoon the Governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal Anaya, who broke news of the two surviving Americans at a separate press conference in the morning, confirmed the identity of the person arrested.
La Kena or Ciclon 19, the leader of the Gulf Cartel
’24-year-old Jose ‘N’ was arrested. He was in charge of monitoring the victims,’ he said, noting the victims ‘were found in a house near a place known as La Lagunona in the town of El Tecolote in Matamoros.
‘During the three days after the criminal act, the four people were transferred to various places, including a clinic in order to create confusion and avoid rescue work,’ he said.
Officials in Mexico would not confirm whether the person detained in relation to the kidnapping is related to the criminal organization ‘Gulf Cartel,’ which is known to operate in the region.
Mexican officials said that the group arrived in Matamoros at 9:18am and were caught up in the terrifying ambush, hours after arriving in town, at 11:45am.
Tamaulipas State Attorney General Irving Barrios said that information related to the kidnapping surfaced online and that videos and pictures shared by people helped in the rescue.
At the time authorities didn’t know that the victims were Americans, he added.
Once officials had identified U.S. license plates on the minivan the group had been traveling in, Mexican authorities reached out to their U.S. counterparts.
The Governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal Anaya, confirmed the condition of four kidnapped Americans over a phone call during President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s press conference on Tuesday. Two are dead, two alive – one wounded
Mexican authorities are seen here investigating the white SUV McGee and her friends drove to the country in
Mexican authorities said they were able to scan public surveillance cameras in the area to determine ‘the number of cartel vehicles that were involved in the attack.’
He said that they scanned medical facilities in Matamoros in hopes of finding the kidnapping victims earlier but to no avail.
Defense Secretary General Louis Sandoval was asked about kidnappings on both sides of the border, especially in the U.S. where victims are then taken into Mexico to seek ransom.
‘Tamaulipas has been a state where violence, the presence of groups has been important,’ he said.
‘It should be noted during the current administration a security strategy was established and very specific objectives were set for Tamaulipas, for the border, to take care of the border.
‘The security strategy that was implemented has given very good results, I don’t have the stats here right now, but the number of intentional homicides has dropped in Tamaulipas thanks to this strategy.
‘The participation of the army, the strategy of the air force has been important.’
The Tamaulipas State Attorney General’s Office said that the four American citizens were found at about 7:30am Tuesday, four days after going missing.
In the lead up to the rescue, Mexican newspaper Milenio cites law enforcement officials were investigating whether the group was kidnapped by members of the ‘Gulf Cartel,’ a notoriously violent gang run by a feared leader known as La Kena.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the US authorities should treat the gangs the same way they do ISIS when negotiating for Americans’ release.
‘They are terrorists,’ he said during an appearance on Fox News last night.
‘The Mexican government is being held hostage by tens of thousands of paramilitary members of terrorist organizations that effectively control Mexico.’
And as spring breakers pack their bikinis and sunglasses to hit the beach in Mexico, the US government has urged citizens to avoid cartel hotspots amid a spike in violence.
‘It’s pretty close at this stage to a failed narco-state,’ he said.
‘They can use violence and oceans of cash to corrupt the government. The government has no will, and it doesn’t have the ability to deal with the cartels.’
Le Kena leads the Gulf Cartel and is also known as Ciclon 19. His real name is Alberto García Vilano.
Mexican authorities have been hunting him for months and are offering a reward of 2.5million pesos for any information that could lead to his arrest.
McGee (pictured) was seen in the back of an ambulance before being transported to Texas after the brutal kidnapping that officials believe was a case of ‘mistaken identity’
McGee was seen wiping her eyes with a tissue as Williams – who was shot in the left leg, but also survived the ordeal – was treated in the back of the emergency vehicle
The FBI and Mexican law enforcement are investigating, with the bureau asking the public for information leading to arrests.
The State Department has a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning in place for Tamaulipas state due to ‘crime and kidnapping.’
It said organized crime activity, including gun battles, armed robberies and kidnappings, are common along the border and in Ciudad Victoria.
‘Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,’ the warning states.