The Mexican Gulf Cartel has issued an apology and turned in five of their members following a horrific kidnapping that killed two US citizens last week.
Four Americans were kidnapped on Friday (3 March) in the Mexico border city of Matamoros when gunmen opened fire on their car and the they were loaded into the back of a pickup truck.
Authorities said the kidnappers dropped their victims to various locations to 'create confusion and avoid rescue efforts', but they were found on 7 March in a wooden shack outside Matamoros.
Scorpions Group, a faction of the Gulf Cartel, have now apologized for the broad daylight kidnapping and decided to hand over members who were allegedly involved.
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A photograph of the five men allegedly responsible for the kidnapping was published on the front page of Mexican newspapers today (10 March).
In the photo, the men are lying face down with their tops pulled up over their heads and their hands tied behind their backs, which is reportedly how police found them when they arrived to the scene.
Scorpions Group also apparently left a letter at the scene, which has since been scene by Associated Press.
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The letter explained that the five members had 'acted under their own decision-making and lack of discipline' when they attacked the four US citizens.
It accused the five men of breaking the Gulf Cartel's rule to 'protect the lives of the innocent'.
They also apologised to the people of Matamoros, the victims and their families, and the Mexican woman who was killed when they opened fire.
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Matamoros, near the border town of Brownsville, Texas, has become a key area for the Gulf Cartel's ongoing war against the rival Zetas.
The four victims, Latavia 'Tay' McGee, Shaeed Woodard, Zindell Brown and Eric James Williams were taken for treatment when they were found this week, but two of them - Woodard and Brown - passed away.
McGee and and Williams have since been transferred to American hospitals.
The FBI confirmed that 'one of the surviving victims sustained serious injuries during the attack'.
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Williams' wife, Michele Williams, later told CNN that her husband had been shot twice in one leg and once in the other.
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Reuters reports that Mexican law enforcement are investigating whether the Scorpion members had mistaken the four US citizens for members of a rival cartel, given that all four had previous convictions for drug-related offences.
Commenting on the devastating attack, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said this week: "We are very sorry that this happened in our country and we send our condolences to the families of the victims, friends, and the United States government, and we will continue doing our work to guarantee peace and tranquillity."
Ali Condon