Three U.S. citizens last seen with police in Mexico are found dead

[n2doc]

Source: LA Times

Three U.S. citizens who were in Mexico visiting their father and were last seen in the custody of police have been killed along with a friend, authorities said Friday.

Their bodies, each with a gunshot to the head, have been identified by relatives, authorities in the border state of Tamaulipas said. Two brothers, their sister and her boyfriend were killed after being taken away by an ad hoc police force in the city of Matamoros, authorities and relatives said.

The police force, known as the Hercules squad, was seen taking the three men and the woman away, witnesses said.

The Hercules police force is an elite group formed by the mayor of Matamoros, Leticia Salazar, according to the Tamaulipas prosecutors' office. Some officials in the most conflict-ridden parts of Mexico have formed their own security squads as a way to protect themselves when they cannot trust often-corrupt police.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-mexico-american-deaths-20141101-story.html

[riversedge]

1. good gawd!!

[rafeh1]

2. Mexico drug war killing s

Massively trump isis and ebola combined. Yet no one wants to do anything.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. There are people on this board who

INSIST that Mexico is safe and that tourists have nothing to fear in Mexico. Mass graves, kidnapping tourists and now this? Bullshit! I'm not going back anytime soon. I used to go 2 to 3 times a year and loved the country and loved the people but there's been just too many stories about how tourists are being kidnapped and held for ransom and if the families can't pay, they just kill them. It's pretty damned hard to be more corrupt than the U.S. but Mexico has managed to accomplish that.

[davsand]

5. You are not the first person I've heard say this.

I know a few folks who still have family and friends in Mexico who refuse to go back to visit due to safety concerns. I also have been told more than once that the soldados pose a bigger threat than the banditos in many cases. Very sad.



Laura

[Zorra]

6. Things have really gone bad rapidly down there over the past 10 yrs.

Three years ago I was playing a solo gig in a kind of kicked back hippie beach town on the southern mainland. It was in this shiny new all white place that had been built over the summer, swimming pool downstairs in front of the stage, bar upstairs, waitresses serving cocktails, definitely more upscale than what is normal there. Everyone, of course, suspected that it was built with drug money.

To make a long story short, I finished the gig around 1:15, packed up my gear, and went upstairs to get paid. The owner asked me if I wanted a drink, I said sure, he sat down with me, we chatted a bit, and I left.

About 20 minutes after I left someone went upstairs to the bar and shot him in the head.

It's very sad to see these things happening, but you are right, the reality is that it has been getting worse and worse down there year after year.

[Sunlei]

4. Their car was moved to the mayors loot lot. They didn't realize they robbed USA citizens this time.