Mexican Border-State Mayor, Staff Kidnapped by Cartel Gunmen

Cartel gunmen kidnapped a Mexican border-state mayor and his staff as they traveled through the border state of Tamaulipas. After a large-scale manhunt and government pressure, the gunmen released the politician from Coahuila and his staff.

The kidnapping took place on Friday night as Mario Cedillo, his wife, one of his sons, and some of his staff members were traveling through the border city of Nuevo Laredo in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas, a statement from the Coahuila state government revealed. In total, the gunmen are believed to have taken nine people. The politician and his staff were returning from work meetings in the state of Oaxaca. While traveling through Nuevo Laredo, a group of gunmen in two SUVs began chasing them. Shortly after that, government officials lost communication with the elected offical.

The location of the kidnapping is in one of the most dangerous border cities as it is controlled by the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas. The cartel is one of the most violent criminal organizations in Mexico. As Breitbart Texas has reported, gunmen in Nuevo Laredo operate with complete impunity setting up roadblocks and patrolling the city in convoys of gunmen in armored vehicles and with high-powered weaponry.

Coahuila Governor Miguel Angel Riquelme sent out a statement on Saturday confirming the kidnapping and also took to social media to state that his staff was working with military forces as well as the governments of Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon to locate the missing mayor and his staff.

Riquelme has been outspoken against the CDN-Los Zetas since the criminal organization carried out several attacks against rural communities in Coahuila. In recent days, state police forces arrested a regional commander after he engaged in a shootout with police forces in a neighboring state.

By Saturday afternoon, Riquelme and Tamaulipas Governor Americo Villarreal took to social media to confirm the release of Cedillo and his staff. Information on how or why the gunmen released their victims was not revealed.

The kidnapping comes just days after the Cartel Del Noreste faction of Los Zetas kidnapped 11 artisans from the state of Puebla who traveled to Nuevo Laredo for an art expo. After intense government pressure, the gunmen also released the artisans. However, CDN-Los Zetas have yet to release a group of day laborers from Tamaulipas that they kidnapped last month. As Breitbart Texas reported, relatives of those laborers have held protests outside of the home of Tamaulipas governor Americo Villarreal, however, government officials ignored them.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.     

“C.E. Herrera” and “J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila as well as “C.P. Mireles” contributed to this report.