A group of cartel gunmen abducted, murdered, and incinerated a group of musicians in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Desperate relatives held protests, vigils, and even blocked access to international ports of entry in an attempt to get government officials to act and not ignore the case, like the thousands of missing persons cases that have been taking place throughout the state of Tamaulipas in recent years.
The abduction took place early Sunday morning after the five members of a local regional musical group called Fugitivo went to perform at a private party. When they arrived at the venue, they found it closed. They never returned.
Relatives and loved ones quickly sounded the alarm and filed missing persons reports with authorities. They then began holding protests and spreading the information on social media as a way to pressure authorities into action.
Authorities revealed to Breitbart Texas that 24 hours after the disappearance, they were able to locate the group’s SUV, but the trailer where they kept their musical instruments was missing.
In the following days, Tamaulipas State authorities went to a local bar called La Chinit, where witnesses claim the musicians went after finding their original venue closed. There, they found traces of blood and began conducting DNA tests to determine if the blood matched that of the missing individuals.
As part of their efforts to get attention to the case, friends and loved ones held protests, blocking traffic at international ports of entry. These protests forced Mexican authorities to take steps to secure the ports of entry.
By Wednesday afternoon, authorities found the alleged remains of the five victims. Authorities have begun trying to confirm that the remains are the missing musicians and continue investigating the abduction and killing.
While authorities have not announced a motive or suspects for the killing, as Breitbart Texas has reported, the city of Reynosa remains under the strict control of a faction of the Gulf Cartel. This criminal organization has been labelled as a foreign terrorist group by the U.S. government.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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