You're sorry? Gulf Cartel apologizes, turns over 5 members tied to Americans' deadly kidnapping
Mexico’s Gulf Cartel turns over 5 members tied to Americans’ deadly kidnapping
By
Olivia Land
March 9, 2023 3:42pm
Updated
A secretive faction of Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel apologized and turned in five members who they say are responsible for the broad-daylight kidnapping
that killed two Americans last week.
The cartel’s Scorpions group said it “decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events” related to the March 3 abduction of four Americans in the border city of Matamoros, according to a letter leaked to the Associated Press by a Tamaulipas state law enforcement source.
The letter also claimed the five members “acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline” when they attacked victims Latavia “Tay” McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams.
McGee and Williams were found injured but alive in a dingy shack on Tuesday after a four-day search. Woodard and Brown, however, had been shot dead.
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The Gulf Cartel claims these men are responsible for the kidnapping of Americans.Federal Ministerial Police
The cartel’s Scorpions group said it “decided to turn over those who were directly involved and responsible in the events.”Federal Ministerial Police
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The ambush, the letter states, went against the Gulf Cartel’s policy of “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.”Federal Ministerial Police
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The Gulf Cartel penned a letter to Mexican police that apologized for the kidnapping of four Americans on March 3.Federal Ministerial Police

A Mexican soldier guards the Tamaulipas state prosecutor’s headquarters in Matamoros.AP
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Zindell Brown was shot dead in the incident.Family Handout
Shaeed Woodard was also killed.Facebook / Shaeed Woodard
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Eric James Williams was found injured but alive.
Latavia McGee was also injured but survived.Facebook / Latavia McGee
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The ambush, the letter states, went against the Gulf Cartel’s policy of “respecting the life and well-being of the innocent.”
The Tamaulipas source also showed the outlet a photograph of the five implicated men lying bound and face-down on the pavement.
Four US citizens from South Carolina were abducted in Matamoros
A separate source, a state security official, told the Associated Press that the men were found tied up in a vehicle that is at the center of the kidnapping investigation.
Mexican officials did not immediately confirm the reports.

The four Americans were kidnapped on March 3, and two were shot dead.REUTERS

The five cartel members men are reportedly in custody, but Mexcian authorities have not confirmed that.REUTERS
News of the possible arrests comes amid reports that Mexican law enforcement is
pursuing a possible drug-trafficking motive for the abduction, which some experts initially speculated was a tragic case of mistaken identity.
All four victims, who were childhood friends from South Carolina, had prior arrests for drug-related incidents.
Matamoros, which is located near the border town of Brownsville, Texas, is a “hot zone” for the
Gulf Cartel’s ultra-violent war against its rival Zetas.
“They live off of extortion, kidnapping and protection money,” author Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera told The Post of the Gulf Cartel, which has controlled the region for almost 100 years.
With Post wires