Mexico Kidnapping and Killing of US Citizens Case: Diplomatic Rift Ensues despite Five Arrests

Mexican authorities have arrested five people over the deadly kidnapping of a group of Americans, after the suspects were left in the street with their hands tied by alleged cartel members, officials said Friday. The two survivors, one of whom suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, were returned to the United States on Tuesday via a land border crossing, hours after they were rescued The bodies of the two dead Americans were repatriated on Thursday, authorities said. “These cartels that have so much power in the area must be dismantled,” he said, stressing the need for US cooperation with Mexico, “respecting its sovereignty.” The kidnapping has led to calls from some US Senators for tougher action against Mexican cartels, which are accused of smuggling the often-deadly opioid fentanyl across the border into the United States. Republican Senators Roger Marshall and Rick Scott this week introduced a bill in the US Congress seeking to designate the criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organizations.” Another Republican, Senator Lindsey Graham, has gone further, urging President Joe Biden’s administration to allow the US military to pursue the drug traffickers “wherever they exist.” The calls have irritated Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who described the proposals as “arrogant” and lacking respect for his country’s sovereignty.