Mexican authorities arrested the notorious drug lord’s son
The arrest of Guzmn, the son of the Sinaloa cartel, and the scalar drug lord
Mexican authorities have arrested the son of notorious drug lord El Chapo in a dramatic operation that led to clashes in the city of Guadalajara, a federal government source told CNN.
The state of Sinaloa is home to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world’s most powerful narcotics trafficking organizations. “El Chapo” was the leader of the cartel before he was sentenced to life in prison in 2020.
He was previously arrested by federal authorities in October 2019, but was released on the orders of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to avoid further bloodshed.
Social media videos show trucks on fire and intense shooting near the airport which was closed for most of the day due to the violence. CNN has not yet verified these videos.
The Secretary of Public Security of the state of Sinaloa, Cristbal Castaeda, asked the public not to leave the city as he spoke about vehicles being looted and blockades taking place in different parts of the city.
The state’s education secretary also announced that school and administrative activities had been suspended in Culiacán and urged those who are in a risk area to take refuge in a safe place.
The arrest comes days before US President Joe Biden and Canadian President Justin Trudeau visit Mexico City to attend the North American Leaders Summit.
Lpez Obrador could show the US that he is in charge of the armed forces and Mexico’s security situation if he captures Guzmn.
“It also defuses the power behind any ask from the Biden administration to stem the tide of fentanyl and other narcotics across the border,” she added.
Guzmn and his brother had a lot of control over the family business, and that is one of the reasons why the $5 million reward was offered by the State Department.
They started investing large amounts of the cash into purchasing marijuana and cocaine in Mexico. The State Department said that they began buying large amounts of ephedrine from Argentina and arranged for the transport of the product into Mexico so they could experiment with methamphetamine production.
In the US last year, El Guzmn was sentenced to 10 counts, including engaged in a criminal enterprise, drug trafficking and firearms charges. He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.
Intergovernmental communications between the Mexican Embassy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the wake of the kidnapping of her daughter Latavia Washington McGee
Two family members said that one of the four Americans being kidnapped in Mexico was a mother of six who needed to cross the border for a medical procedure.
Latavia “Tay” Washington McGee, 33, drove to Mexico with Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and their friend Eric for the procedure but she never made it to her doctor’s appointment on Friday, her mother Barbara Burgess told CNN.
On Sunday, Burgess said she was informed by the FBI that her daughter had been kidnapped and was in danger. She said they told her if she called them.
“Given the presumption that they are American citizens, a line of direct communication was established with US authorities to exchange information and dedicated to locating them. The communications are being carried out at the highest level between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United States Embassy in Mexico.
A US official familiar with the investigation tells CNN that the Americans were mistaken for Haitian drug traffickers.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/americas/mexico-matamoros-us-citizens-kidnapping-tuesday/index.html
The family of Brown’s friends in Matamoros, Mexico, said she and her brother were traveling to Mexico for medical treatment after finding an abandoned vehicle
According to Brown’s sister, the group of friends grew up together in South Carolina. She added, that she and her brother are also close. “Zindell is like my shadow, he’s like my son, he’s like my hip bone. We are tight like that.
Mexico is a popular destination for medical tourists who are looking for alternative treatments that are currently unavailable in the US. The CDC warns that the trend can carry a lot of risk if it is to go somewhere other than a hospital.
CNN reported that the U.S. citizens had traveled to Matamoros for medical procedures after finding receipts from the abandoned vehicle.
A group of people crossed the border to buy medicine and the whole government is working to resolve the case, according to Mexican President Lpez Obrador.
These sorts of attacks are not acceptable. Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals and we stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Monday, adding that the State and Homeland Security departments are coordinating with Mexican authorities.
Mary McFadden told CNN that the family didn’t hear from the group of friends until the following Sunday, so they searched online for any information on their travel destination. A video was showing McFadden’s niece being kidnapped.
“We recognized her and her blonde hair,” McFadden said. She said that she saw the clothing from the live video that Washington had posted to Facebook.
She said that Washington McGee needs to come back here for her kids because she is a mother.
Tamaulipas Task Force on Investigating the Associated Footsteps in a Robust Car-Stokes-Kidnapping Case
The video shows a woman being pushed onto the bed of a truck by two people in front of a third man. The three men then appear to drag at least two limp people onto the truck bed, the video shows.
CNN obtained photos which appear to show some of the scene where the Americans crashed their car and were taken to a house at a gun point.
The FBI would not confirm the authenticity of the photos, but CNN has geolocated the images and confirmed their authenticity with a US official with knowledge of the investigation.
The photos also show a woman looking at and then sitting next to three people lying on the ground outside a white minivan. All the doors of the van are open. Four people in the photos are not sure whether they are US citizens.
The woman then appears to have been loaded onto the bed of a white pickup truck, beside which several people can be seen lying on the street, the photos show.
Investigators trying to locate the US citizens and identify those involved in the alleged kidnapping have been working to gather surveillance footage, collect ballistics and fingerprint evidence, take biological samples for genetic profiles and process the vehicles involved, Tamaulipas officials said.
A joint task force of federal and state agencies has been created for “processing all the information related to the case” and maintaining constant communication with US officials, Barrios Mojica, the Tamaulipas Attorney General, said.
The FBI is asking for help in finding the Americans and identifying anyone involved in the incident. The reward for the return of the victims will be $50,000.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/americas/mexico-matamoros-us-citizens-kidnapping-tuesday/index.html
The U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar meets with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Matamoros
Ongoing violence has plagued some Mexican cities as they become the backdrop of organized crime and drug trafficking operations, which the country’s government has been battling since at least 2006.
Matamoros is a city with over half a million people that is located just across the Rio Grande from Texas. The city has been the location of a large group of people hoping to cross into the US.
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the State Department advisory says.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico City on Monday as the condition and whereabouts of four Americans who were kidnapped at gunpoint remain unknown.
The group of US citizens were on their way back to the U.S. from Matamoros, when they were hit by a hail of gunfire. The Americans were driving a white minivan.
The safe return of our compatriots is being achieved by various law enforcement agencies at all levels of government.
“Clearly, we want to be really careful here. Jean-Pierre told reporters there were privacy concerns and he didn’t want to share too much information.
The FBI and the White House have said nothing new about the incident besides what the ambassador had already said.
The Tamaulipas Violence Rate is Not a Threat to Visitors in the United States, as reported by the U.S. Department of State
The state of Tamaulipas is considered one of the most violent places in Mexico. As recently as October the U.S. State Department issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory, citing crime and kidnapping.
