Mexico’s defense ministry said on Saturday that authorities had arrested 16 military personnel suspected of executing five men after a truck crash last month.
Mexican media released a video last week, dated May 18, showing a dozen soldiers surrounding a truck that hit a wall, dragging five people out of the vehicle and shooting them. According to Reuters. A military court on Thursday issued arrest warrants for 16 people implicated in “crimes against military discipline”.
Mexico arrests 16 soldiers involved in ‘execution’ of 5 men, ministry says https://t.co/bp943ykVu3 pic.twitter.com/ifj2VMJk9E
— Reuters (@Reuters) June 10, 2023
Filmed in the northern state of Tamaulipas, the video shows soldiers kicking and punching the truck occupants as they get out of their vehicles and push them against a wall. Soldiers then took cover and fired into the distance, killing five people who were dragged out of the truck.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador referred to the incident at a press conference this week, saying the video appeared to show an “execution”. Further details about the circumstances of the video are unknown, but the footage shows one of the accused soldiers removing a long gun from a truck. (Related: Mexico president pleads with Florida Hispanics not to give Mr. DeSantis a ‘vote’)
The Mexican government is believed to have lost control of certain areas of the country that have been under the violent rule of powerful drug cartels. The state of Tamaulipas, which borders the southern tip of Texas, is known as the site of a fierce battle between the Gulf Cartel and the violent crime syndicate Los Zetas.
