Four Americans kidnapped in Mexico ‘were taken by cartel boss La Kena’ after traveling across the border for a tummy tuck: Bill Barr says drug gangs should be ‘dealt with like ISIS’
- The group was taken Friday after getting caught in the crossfire of a gang fight
- Mexican officials say the leader of the Gulf Cartel may be involved
- They had traveled south so that one of the group could have a tummy tuck
The four Americans kidnapped in Mexico after traveling over the border so that one could get a cut-price tummy tuck may have been kidnapped by a cartel boss known as La Kena.
Mexican newspaper Milenio cites law enforcement officials who say they are actively investigating whether he was involved in the capture of Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee, her cousin Shaeed Woodard and their friends Zindell Brown and Eric Williams.
They had traveled from Lake City, South Carolina to the border town of Matamoros for McGee to undergo a discounted tummy tuck, according to a sister of one of the kidnapped.
Matamoros is in the state of Tamaupilas, which is among six states that are currently under travel warnings.
Latavia ‘Tay’ McGee had traveled down to Mexico on Wednesday for a tummy tuck procedure before she was kidnapped at gunpoint by a drug cartel on Friday
McGee was joined by her cousin, Shaeed Woodard, (left), Eric Williams (right) and Zindell Brown
They were taken on Friday, after becoming caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between two gangs.
La Kena or Ciclon 19, the leader of the Gulf Cartel
Former Attorney General Bill Barr said the US authorities ought to treat the gangs the same way they do ISIS when negotiating for Americans’ release.
‘They are terrorists,’ he said during an appearance on Fox News last night.
‘The Mexican government is being held hostage by tens of thousands of paramilitary members of terrorist organizations that effectively control Mexico.
‘It’s pretty close at this stage to a failed narco-state.
‘They can use violence and oceans of cash to corrupt the government. The government has no will, and it doesn’t have the ability to deal with the cartels,’ he said.
Le Kena leads the Gulf Cartel and is also known as Ciclon 19. His real name is Alberto García Vilano.
Mexican authorities have been hunting him for months and are offering a reward of 2.5million pesos for any information that could lead to his arrest.
A map highlighting the six of 32 Mexican states that the US State Department currently has listed under its most severe ‘do not travel’ category, due to local cartels that may rob and/or kidnap American tourists
A gunman acted as a lookout for his cohorts moments after they attacked a mini van with four American occupants and kidnapped them in the northeastern Mexican border city of Matamoros on Friday
Zalandria Brown of Florence, South Carolina, said on Monday she has been in contact with the FBI and local officials after learning that her younger brother, Zindell, is one of the four victims.
‘This is like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from,’ she said in a phone interview with the Associated Press. ‘To see a member of your family thrown in the back of a truck and dragged, it is just unbelievable.’
Zalandria said her brother, who lives in Myrtle Beach, and two friends had accompanied McGee who was going to Mexico for a tummy tuck surgery.
She said the group was extremely close and that they all made the trip in part to help split up the driving duties.
They were aware of the dangers in Mexico, Zalandria noted, and her brother had even expressed some misgivings before the trip.
The FBI is now offering a $50,000 reward for the victims’ return and the arrest of the kidnappers.
Mexican authorities are seen here investigating the white SUV McGee and her friends drove to the country in
