Thursday, April 22, 2010

Monterrey hotel attacked in Mexico kidnappings?

Hmm.

They're blaming it on "drug gangs". But, why would drug gangs attack a motel and kidnap people at random?

From the LA Times:
In a bold predawn attack, gunmen stormed a hotel Wednesday in the heart of the northern city of Monterrey and kidnapped at least three people, officials said.

Mexican media said up to 50 hooded gunmen arrived in a convoy and burst into the downtown Holiday Inn, seizing guests and employees.

Law enforcement officials, offering only scant details by late afternoon, said it was not immediately clear whether a fourth person was seized or how many gunmen took part in the 3 a.m. attack. Authorities offered no motive for the kidnappings, but the attack bore the hallmarks of Mexico's drug gang violence.

Monterrey's mayor, Fernando Larrazabal, said police had trouble reaching the scene because the attackers commandeered cars and used them to block surrounding streets. Larrazabal told a radio interviewer that the kidnappers had disappeared in less than 20 minutes.

Authorities dismissed news reports that the kidnappers had seized another person from a hotel across the street. Initial news accounts here said seven people had been kidnapped.

Violence related to drug gangs has spiked in recent months in northeastern Mexico, including around Monterrey, a business hub that is Mexico's third-largest metropolitan area. Hit men have slain police officers and members of rival groups.

A shootout in Monterrey between gunmen and Mexican soldiers last month killed two university students outside their school, Monterrey Tech.

Much of the recent mayhem across the state of Nuevo Leon, of which Monterrey is the capital, and the nearby state of Tamaulipas stems from fighting between the Gulf cartel and former allies, known as the Zetas. That feud has drawn in other trafficking groups, spreading chaos along the U.S. border near the Gulf of Mexico.

The Holiday Inn, with 390 rooms, sits in a downtown zone with numerous high-rise hotels.

The website of the daily Reforma newspaper quoted an unidentified witness as saying the hotel erupted in shouts and the sound of people being beaten. It said gunmen fired when a captive tried to escape, but that it was not clear if the person was hit.

A security guard was reportedly pistol-whipped.

Calls to the hotel were not answered.

5 comments:

Always On Watch said...

Were there cries of "Allahu akbar"?

Pastorius said...

The reports I have read are like this. Nothing more.

Jaujau said...

Perhaps the reason Arizona is trying so hard to crack down on illegals is due to the number of kidnappings happening in the state. The recent murder of a border rancher is also fueling the fires of need. The feds seem unwilling to do anything about it, and they are even actively hampering the states from taking action as well. They clearly do not have our best interests at heart.

Anonymous said...

over the last several years I have tracked stories that were quashed repeatedly of mexican military units in uniform, in military vehicles with mexican military markings being found miles inside the united states by private citizens and border patrol and on a number of occasions they opened fire with automatic weapons and the border patrol was forced to flee.

every single time this has happened the msm has ignored it.

im not a conspiracy theororist but wtf?

Pastorius said...

Do you have any opinions on what is going on?