Latest kidnapping in Mexico: Two Americans rescued from drug cartel storehouse named after Matamoros attack

Governor of Tamaulipas, Américo Villarreal, said at a press conference that during the three days their abduction lasted, the group had been moved from several locations, including a clinic, in an attempt to throw off investigators.

Mr Villareal said the “Clan del Golfo” is the cartel known to run and control the area. Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica also said Mexican officials believe members of the Gulf drug cartel are behind the attack.

Barbara Burgess, the mother of surviving kidnapping victim LaTavia McGee, said she was concerned about her daughter’s departure and warned her it might not be safe. But her daughter brushed off her worries by telling her, “Mom, it will be fine”.

Ms Burgess last heard from Ms McGee on Friday when she called to say they were only 15 minutes away from the cosmetic surgeon’s office where she was due to have the procedure that day. She never heard from her daughter again.

Ms. Burgess said she tried to call Ms. McGee later that day, but her phone went straight to voicemail.

Not long after, she said she was visited by an FBI agent, who revealed what had happened.

Mrs. McGee and Erick James Williams survived the attack, while Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown were killed

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby also condemned the attack on US citizens and promised justice for their families.

“We appreciate the hard work of the Justice Department, the FBI and DEA and the Department of Homeland Security…we are grateful for their prompt response to this terrible incident and for their continued cooperation with Mexican authorities,” Kirby said. to reporters.

“We will work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”

Asked if the White House is considering policy changes in response to the attack, Mr Kirby said there were no immediate remedies but insisted that US authorities work extensively to recover the bodies of the fatal victim and survivors on American soil.

Four US citizens ambushed and kidnapped at gunpoint in Mexico have been found — two of them alive and two dead, officials said.

Here’s everything we know about the attack:

National Security Committee coordinator John Kirby condemned the attack on US citizens and promised justice for their families.

“We appreciate the hard work of the Justice Department, the FBI and DEA and the Department of Homeland Security…we are grateful for their prompt response to this terrible incident and for their continued cooperation with Mexican authorities,” Kirby said. .

“We will work closely with the Mexican government to ensure that justice is done in this case.”

US officials familiar with the investigation told CNN authorities believe a Mexican cartel mistook the victims for Haitian drug smugglers.

The FBI, Justice Department and State Department are working with Mexican authorities to determine what happened. At least one person has already been arrested, according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador commented on the development at his morning press conference.

“We continue to work every day for peace and are very sorry that this has happened in our country,” he said said.

“We extend our condolences to the friends and family of the victims and the American people. And we will continue to work for peace.”

The four Americans kidnapped in Matamoros were taken to different locations by the people holding them hostage, Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villareal said at a news conference on Tuesday.

At one point they were held in a clinic, Villareal said.

Mexican state and local authorities returned the victims to the FBI on Tuesday at the Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas.

The group had traveled to the Mexican state so that one of them could undergo a tummy tuck. Not long after entering Matamoros – an area dominated by the Gulf Cartel – they came under fire from a group of gunmen and were bundled into the back of a pickup truck.