Of the 68 people rescued in the northern state of Tamaulipas on Wednesday, 12 are migrants from Central America. According to their accounts, gunmen identifying themselves with the Gulf Cartel seized the group off an autobus. Tamaulipas has been in the news because of the grizzly mass murder of 72 migrants in San Fernando last August and, most recently, the recovery of 145 bodies in recent weeks in mass graves. Those slayings are attributed to the Zetas, a separate drug gang that skulks the insecure roads of Tamaulipas. In 2009 a truce between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas in Tamaulipas fell through, opening the state–and the persons crossing through it–to the gangs’ wrath.
Consolation is scare in Mexico these days; at least in this instance the government was able to quickly act on a tip, arrest the two hostage takers, and save lives.
