12 State Police Officers Arrested Over Massacre of 19 in Tamaulipas

 "MX" for Borderland Beat; TY "Redlogarythm"

For the original story about the incident, please click this hyperlink.

A judge issued 12 arrests warrants against these police officers. All are in custody.

The Attorney General's Office in Tamaulipas has arrested 12 state police officers who could be involved in the massacre that left 19 dead in Tamaulipas on 22 January 2021. All the officers are being charged with homicide, abuse of authority, abuse of administrative duties, and for providing false information to authorities.

Investigators arrived at the conclusion that authorities were involved in the massacre after one of the vehicles found in the Tamaulipas crime scene had already been seized on 6 December 2020 at another crime in Nuevo Leon. During that incident, 66 migrants were rescued by security forces after they were abducted and kept by cartel members in a safe house. The vehicle was seized but it ended up in the cartel's hands the following month.

The police officers involved "manipulated" the crime scene where the 19 people were killed by cleaning up the bullet shells left behind. When interviewed about what happened, several of them gave conflicting reports, raising questions about their possible involvement. Federal investigators are also considering the possibility that immigration officials could be involved in this massacre.

Olga Sanchez-Cordero, head of the Mexico's Ministry of Interior, told reporters that they are investigating Mexico's National Institute of Migration (INM). Cordero-Sanchez reported that they remain in close collaboration with the Prosecutor's Office in Tamaulipas to determine the motives of the attack and those responsible for it.

19 people, most of them Guatemalans, were killed in Camargo, Tamaulipas, on January 22 by suspected cartel members. Their bodies were then set on fire along with the vehicles.

Similarly, Mexican Foreign Ministry is in contact with Guatemalan authorities because many of the victims were believed to be Guatemalan citizens. As reported by Borderland Beat, at least 4 of the 19 victims have been identified. 2 of them were Guatemalan citizens and up to 13 are believed to be as well. 
 

Northeast Cartel (CDN), suspected perpetrators 

The attack was believed to have been carried out by the Northeast Cartel (CDN), rivals of the local Gulf Cartel (CDG), with the help of Tamaulipas State Police officers.

The massacre occurred in La Frontera Chica (also known as La Ribereña), a border region along Tamaulipas. In the context of the Mexican Drug War, it is a lucrative drug corridor currently under dispute by the CDN and CDG.

The municipalities of Guerrero, Mier, Miguel Aleman, Camargo and Diaz Ordaz make up "La Frontera Chica"

The CDN, based in Nuevo Laredo, is trying to expand east into La Frontera Chica, which has historically been controlled by the CDG.

Reports say that the CDN was looking for a high-ranking CDG member known as "El Entenado", who reports to plaza boss Cesar Morfin Morfin ("El Primito"), when they stumbled upon the safe house where 34 migrants were hiding. 19 of them were kidnapped and killed while the others managed to escape and notify their families.

Most of them had travelled to Mexico from the Guatemalan towns of Comitancillo and San Marcos to escape poverty and find a better living in the U.S.

Sources: Animal Politico; Proceso; Borderland Beat archives