Mexico’s latest kidnapping: Two Americans rescued from drug cartel safehouse are named after Matamoros attack

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina told Fox News he would introduce legislation to “set the stage” for using military force in Mexico to fight drug cartels.

Mr. Graham made the comments on Jesse Watters’ show on Monday night, saying he would “introduce legislation to make certain Mexican drug cartels foreign terrorist organizations under U.S. law and set the stage to use military force if necessary.”

The independentEric Garcia has the story:

A video widely shared on social media, allegedly filmed in the city on Friday, shows people being dragged and dumped into the back of a white flatbed truck parked in the middle of a busy street by gunmen wearing bulletproof vests.

The video has not been officially verified and the FBI has not publicly commented on it.

Matamoros is notorious as a center for gang violence and illegal migrant smuggling.

Tamaulipas state police said on their social media channel that people had been killed and wounded in two shootings in Matamoros on Friday in which neither the military nor the police had been involved, but did not provide further details about the shootings or say whether the kidnappings were connected.

“There have been two armed incidents between unidentified civilians,” it said. “The exact death toll is being confirmed.”

Photographs of the abandoned car, with visible bullet holes, have since been released.

The bodies of two Americans killed in Matamoros, Mexico, will be returned after local authorities complete forensic evaluations, a source close to the investigation said. CNN.

Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villareal said in a televised call with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador that two individuals, Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown, were killed.

Two other US citizens, one unharmed and one injured, are back on US soil.

Photos of Unbiased Press showed the moment the two surviving American citizens were rescued by Mexican authorities.

They were found at a storage house in a rural area east of Matamoros called Ejido Longoreño on their way to the local beach known as Playa Bagdad, a source close to the investigation said. AP.

Zindell Brown, one of the two Americans killed in the kidnapping, was concerned about the risks of traveling to Mexico, his sister told The Associated Press.

“Zindell kept saying, ‘We shouldn’t go down,'” Zalandria Brown told the news organization.

And she added: “This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from. To see a family member thrown into the back of a truck and dragged, it’s just unbelievable.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that any attack on American citizens under any circumstances was unacceptable.

Jean-Pierre said more information will be released after family members of the two fatal victims and two kidnapping survivors are updated by U.S. officials on developments in the case. She also noted that the Biden administration remains committed to “disrupting transnational criminal organizations including Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers.”

“We remain determined to apply the full weight of our efforts and resources to counter them,” Jean-Pierre said.

“Right now. our immediate concern is for the safe return of our citizens, the health and well-being of those who survived this attack, and the support that must be given to the families of those who need it.”

A picture of Jose Guadalupe “N” who was detained in the rescue operation is shown during a press conference to provide details after two US citizens were found dead in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, at the Auditorium of Secretaria de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana on March 7, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico .

The US Consulate in Matamoros issued an alert to its employees on Friday in response to the latest outbreak of violence.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 or to submit tips anonymously online here.

Images of the scene where four U.S. citizens were rescued are shown on a screen during a news conference to provide details after two U.S. citizens were found dead in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, at the Auditorium of Secretaria de Seguridad y Protección Ciudadana on March 7, 2023 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Tamaulipas Governor Américo Villarreal said during a news conference that the group was moved from various locations, including a clinic, during the three days their kidnapping lasted 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.