2011 Matamoros mass kidnapping

2011 Matamoros mass kidnapping
2011 Matamoros mass kidnapping
Part of Mexican Drug War
	Newspaper showing the monetary reward offered for the five Cázares that remain missing
Location	Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico
Coordinates	25°52′47″N 97°30′15″W / 25.87972°N 97.50417°W
Date	9 July 2011 ; 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. (CST)
Target	Cázares family
Attack type	Mass kidnapping
Victims	18 (5 remain missing)
Perpetrators	Gulf Cartel
Motive	Unknown

On 9 July 2011, affiliates of the Gulf Cartel kidnapped 18 members of the Cázares family from three different households in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The women and children were released three days later, but the abductors kept five men. Forty-eight hours later, the Gulf Cartel contacted the family members who had been released to negotiate a ransom. After several days of negotiation and several ransom payments totaling US$100,000, the Cázares were called to deliver their final payment on 27 July. They sent the money to the kidnappers and waited at a specified location for a white van the kidnappers promised would deliver their remaining family members. However, the van never arrived and the phone the kidnappers used to contact the Cázares went out of service. The family then decided to contact the authorities for a criminal investigation.

The mass kidnapping of the Cázares family stands out from other abduction cases in Mexico because all eighteen victims were related. Among them were three U.S. citizens. The family has sent letters to officials at all levels of the Mexican government and has reached out to international heads of state for assistance with the case. The kidnapping remains unsolved; the whereabouts of the five remaining abductees, and the motive behind their kidnapping, are officially unknown. Mexican government sources, however, agree that the kidnapping was masterminded by the top echelons of the Gulf Cartel.