Cartel Kidnappings

A federal judge in Mexico has formally charged the mayor of the city of Tequila with kidnapping and torture-related charges. The new charges come just days after his initial arrest on extortion and ties to Cartel Jalisco New Generation.

Court records show that the recent kidnapping that turned into a shootout between gunmen and police in the parking lot of a local bank in South Texas has a direct cartel connection. The two gunmen were reportedly carrying out a $150,000 cartel hit placed on the victim.

The Canadian government has issued a travel advisory warning travelers to avoid parts of Mexico and exercise “high levels of caution” when traveling throughout the country due to “high levels of criminal activity and kidnapping.”

Travelers in the border state of Tamaulipas are sounding the alarm about a police checkpoint that state investigators are allegedly setting up to collect extortion, and where at least three victims have been abducted and turned over to Gulf Cartel gunmen. The gunmen reportedly tortured the victims while demanding ransom.

The Gulf Cartel continues to terrorize the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas despite the government’s claims of cracking down on drug cartels. The Gulf Cartel is labelled as a terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

A group of gunmen left a bag with a human head and some extremities in the downtown area of Monterrey — one of Mexico’s largest metropolitan areas and the capital of the border state of Nuevo Leon. The gruesome killing comes as drug cartels carry out numerous kidnappings and murders throughout the state, as well as clashing with state police in rural areas.

The Gulf Cartel killed a Mexican activist just days after a judge removed his police protection that was previously granted after the same cartel had kidnapped him four times before and threatened to kill him. The Gulf Cartel is one of six Mexican organized crime groups designated by the Trump administration as foreign terrorist organizations.

Authorities in Mexico are looking into the abduction of a Tamaulipas State Police officer and nine members of his family in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. For reasons yet unknown, the gunmen released the officer and the family unharmed. It remains unclear if the abduction was done as a message to government officials or for other reasons.

Authorities in Mexico City are trying to keep the public calm as they deal with a wave of attacks where victims are being targeted while using public transportation and being injected with unknown chemicals. The victims have been reporting feeling a needle prick, followed by loss of consciousness or feeling disoriented.

Authorities in Mexico rescued a U.S. citizen who cartel gunmen kidnapped as he was driving along a Mexican highway at night. The kidnapping comes at a time when Mexico has been under extreme pressure to stop drug cartels, which operate with impunity in many parts of the country.

A group of gunmen kidnapped and killed a Texas man who had crossed into the Mexican border city of Reynosa to pay real estate taxes on some property he owed there.

Authorities in the Mexican border state of Chihuahua have confirmed the discovery of at least 71 bodies in 46 mass graves in a rural area a short distance south of the border with New Mexico. Cartel gunmen were reportedly using the region to dispose of their victims, who remain mostly unidentified.

Las autoridades del estado fronterizo de Chihuahua confirmaron el descubrimiento de al menos 71 cadáveres en 46 narco-fosas en una zona rural a poca distancia de la frontera con Nuevo México. Según informes, la región estaba siendo utilizada por pistoleros de los cárteles para deshacerse de sus víctimas, que en su mayoría permanecen sin identificar.

A cartel-connected human smuggler will spend 20 years in prison for the ransom kidnapping of a Texas teen at the hands of the Gulf Cartel in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.

A concerning trend is taking place in the central part of the border state of Tamaulipas as the Gulf Cartel has begun to abduct innocent laborers on their way to work. Authorities have been unable to provide answers to the cases while government officials continue to falsely claim that the region is safe and that “impunity has ended.”

Authorities in Mexico rescued 22 migrants being held by cartel gunmen at a ranch in southern Mexico. The rescue came after a fierce gun battle where a soldier and a police officer died during the clash with more than 15 gunmen.

Authorities in Spain announced the recent arrest of a Sinaloa Cartel cell that they had linked to drug trafficking, ransom kidnapping, and murders in that country. As part of the raids tied to the cell, Spanish authorities also dismantled a lab that cartel members used to remove synthetic drugs that had been infused into clothing to smuggle them into the country.

Authorities in Mexico are on the hunt for at least one kidnaping suspect after two gunmen rescued him and another man during a prisoner transfer in central Mexico.

A newspaper in Mexico that reports on the raging cartel violence in the state of Sinaloa became the target of its gunmen. In two days, gunmen carried out a shooting attack on its main building and then, the following day, kidnapped one of its delivery men.

The son of a Mexican mayor is facing kidnapping charges for his alleged role in a cartel-connected kidnapping gang that included other politically connected people, all from the state of Guerrero. The case comes at a time when that Mexican state made international headlines after unknown gunmen kidnapped and beheaded the mayor of its capital city, Chilpancingo, just six days after assuming his post.

A Gulf Cartel lieutenant faces charges for his alleged role in a 2021 shootout that killed 14 innocent bystanders. The local organized crime boss was also accused of numerous kidnappings in various border cities in Tamaulipas. 

A former border state governor in Mexico is lashing out at current authorities in Tamaulipas over their attempted coverup of a case where suspected cartel gunmen tried to take his son who was driving along a highway. The former governor claimed that the current state government has worked hand in hand with drug cartels, and the growing crime and lawlessness in the region is a reflection of that.

Two gunmen tried to kidnap the father of a Mexican border city mayor and then shot at him as the gunmen tried to escape. The attack comes as Tamaulipas state officials continue to claim that the region is safe despite several recent high-profile kidnappings.

Authorities in Mexico confirmed the disappearance of a U.S. citizen from Iowa who had been missing for several days after crossing the border. The disappearance comes at a time when government officials continue to claim that security conditions have been improving. However, criminal organizations like the Gulf Cartel can operate with almost complete impunity.

In yet another resounding example of the Mexican government’s inability to protect its citizens, a family in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, was forced to pay the Gulf Cartel approximately $40,000 USD for the release of their loved one. Government authorities could not help in the case, as relatives and activists were forced to plea to the dominant criminal organizations in the region to help.

En otro ejemplo contundente de la incapacidad del gobierno de México para proteger a sus ciudadanos, una familia en la ciudad fronteriza de Reynosa se vio obligada a pagar al Cártel del Golfo aproximadamente 40.000 dólares por la liberación de su ser querido. Las autoridades gubernamentales no pudieron ayudar en el caso, y los familiares y activistas se vieron obligados a pedir ayuda a las organizaciones criminales que gobiernan la región.

Activists in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, called on two drug cartels that control the region to help restore peace and end senseless kidnappings after government officials and authorities have been unable to do so. The call for help

The U.S. Department of State issued a new travel alert about cartel gunmen kidnapping American passengers from buses traveling through the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The advisory comes even after Mexican border state officials dismissed a prior alert claiming the region has minimal crime statistics.

Activists are sounding the alarm about a large group of gunmen who kidnapped more than 200 migrants as they made their way north toward the Sonora-Arizona border. Some of the migrant’s relatives wired thousands of dollars to the alleged kidnappers, but the migrants remain missing.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is asking for help in locating an Arizona teenage female and her mother who are believed to have been kidnapped while traveling in northern Mexico. The kidnapping is believed to have occurred along a stretch of highway where the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas has abducted dozens of innocent victims who have never been heard from again.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture halted the importation of avocados and mangoes from Mexico following the abduction of two of its workers in a state known for cartel violence.

The United States Consulate in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is sounding the alarm about the targeting of U.S. citizens, residents, and people with connections in the U.S. for ransom kidnappings while traveling on passenger buses.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador claimed that this week’s outrage over the fatal shooting of a young boy during a failed kidnapping was manufactured as a way to hurt his government image due to the upcoming elections.

‘I Don’t Want to Die,’ Young Boy Shot by Kidnappers in Mexico Screams in Video

Authorities are looking into the kidnapping of a high-ranking Catholic Church bishop in Mexico. The case has drawn widespread outrage since the cleric made headlines by trying to broker a peace of sorts between rival cartels who were fighting a fierce turf war in his community.

A group of cartel gunmen in Mexico tried to kidnap a Univision reporter just south of the border with Texas. The gunmen intercepted the journalist and took his cell phones, but he managed to escape.