Gulf Cartel Gunmen in Mexico Kidnap Five Tourists from U.S. in Border State

A group of Gulf Cartel gunmen kidnapped five tourists from the United States who were driving across the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas. Mexican authorities managed to rescue the tourists on the same day and over the weekend recovered the vehicles the victims were driving, including a Lamborghini Urus.

The incident began on Thursday in the city of Soto La Marina, Tamaulipas. Gulf Cartel gunmen set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the city, information provided to Breitbart Texas by law enforcement sources revealed. The gunmen stopped the five tourists who were riding in a Lamborghini Urus, a Jeep Wrangler, and a Jeep Cherokee. At the checkpoint, the gunmen questioned them, kidnapped the men, and took their vehicles.

The five victims have been identified as Joel Rodriguez, Brian Lazala, Ramon Mendez, Bonifacio Sánchez, and Carlos Nuñez. All five men are originally from the Dominican Republic but were living in the United States and were driving to the Mexican state of Veracruz, law enforcement sources revealed. After the kidnapping, a relative of Rodriguez called Mexican authorities from the U.S. asking for help claiming that his brother had been kidnapped, that they had lost all communication with the group, and that their cell phones had been turned off.

In response to the call, investigators from the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office (FGJE) went to Soto La Marina to look into the case. On Friday morning through the use of their street surveillance system, authorities spotted a convoy of gunmen that were moving into the city of Soto La Marina. Authorities moved in to intercept them setting off a shootout. During the shootout, the gunmen left behind a white Ford pickup, inside of it authorities found one of the kidnapping victims and several weapons.

Later on Friday,  Gulf Cartel gunmen left the remaining kidnap victims on the side of the road along the highway that connects Soto La Marina with the Tamaulipas capital of Ciudad Victoria. All five of the victims were alive and provided with first aid.

On Saturday morning investigators with the FGJE tracked down the blue Lamborghini Urus in the Mexican border city of Matamoros and arrested a man identified as Sergio “El Ciego” Guevara Vasquez, a member of the Gulf Cartel who operates under Jose Alberto “La Kena or Ciclon 19” Garcia Vilano, the leader of the Matamoros faction of the Gulf Cartel.

As Breitbart Texas reported, the man known as La Kena was ultimately responsible for the shooting and kidnapping of four U.S. citizens in March, where two of the victims died at the hands of his gunmen.

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 their original Spanish. This article was written by “J.C. Sanchez”, and “Francisco Morales” from Tamaulipas.