One of the main figures in the Gulf drug cartel, which abducted four Americans and murdered two of them in March 2023, was apprehended by Mexican marines.
Who Is The Culprit?
The suspect, named as “La Kena,” was taken into custody in the adjacent state of Nuevo Leon, according to the public safety agency of Tamaulipas, a border state.
The previous Tamaulipas wanted poster for José Alberto García Vilano in 2022 has that moniker specified by the authorities. According to the national arrest record of Mexico, García Vilano was placed under arrest on Thursday.
The suspect, who the Mexican Navy Department described as “one of the key leaders of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Tamaulipas,” was apprehended by marines, the department said in a statement. He was also identified as “one of the main targets of the Drug Enforcement Administration,” though the department withheld his name.
The Abduction Abd Murders
Within the now-separated Gulf cartel, the Cyclones represent one of the most formidable and aggressive groups. The abduction and murder of the Americans have been connected to a different group called “The Scorpions.”
Photo: daily Mail
In March, the four Americans entered Matamoros, a border city from Texas, with the intention of one of them receiving cosmetic surgery. In Matamoros’ downtown, they were fired upon before being placed into a pickup truck.
Latavia McGee and Eric Williams escaped the attack, while Americans Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard perished. The most of them had grown up in Lake City, South Carolina, a tiny town, together. Areli Pablo Servando, 33, a Mexican woman, was also slain, perhaps by a stray bullet.
Shortly after the kidnapping, the Gulf drug gang gave over five men to the authorities. According to a letter purporting to be from the Scorpions group, the gang had reported its own members who were at fault to the authorities and denounced the violence. In the gunshots on March 3, a Mexican woman also lost her life.
