Cartel-connected villagers kidnapped a group of Mexican soldiers, stripped them down, and held them on their knees until authorities returned a seized drug load. They recorded video of their threats to burn the captives as well.
The case took place late last week in Ocosingo, Chiapas. Mexico’s government has remained silent about the kidnapping at a time when cartels are becoming emboldened. Chiapas is a southern state and is one of the main routes used to smuggle cocaine from Guatemala by land.
In a video shared on social media, the captors can be seen forcing a dozen soldiers in their underwear to kneel as one asks his superiors to return “six bundles” seized from an airplane. While the video does not reveal what was in the bundles, the region is commonly used by traffickers to fly large quantities of cocaine into Mexico on small planes. According to Infobae, the villagers held the soldiers for a day until the bundles were returned. Mexico’s military or any federal or state investigative agency has not released any information. The case comes at a time when Mexico’s government has shown weakness when dealing with organized crime. The country’s president continues to push a public message of treating criminals with respect and dignity to peacefully win them over.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.P. Mireles” from Tamaulipas.