MEXICO CITY (AP) — On Wednesday, the United States approved the departure of relatives and employees at a consulate in Nuevo Laredo, a Mexican city on the border between the two countries.
The decision came on Sunday after members of the drug cartel were fired at the premises of the consulate in Nuevo Laredo, bordering Laredo, Texas.
The agency stated in a statement that “the State Department approved the departure of non-essential US government agents and eligible families at the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo due to security conditions.”
“As of March 15, the State Department will not be able to provide regular consular services at the U.S. Consulate General in Nuevo Laredo,” the document added. “American citizens who want to leave Nuevo Laredo should follow local news and announcements and only leave if they feel safe during the day.”
The agency also recommended that U.S. citizens refrain from traveling to Tamaulipas, where Nuevo Laredo is located due to criminal and security situations.
The shooting on Sunday night and early Monday was a response to the arrest of Juan Gerardo Treviño, whom the US authorities described as the founder and leader of the Northeast Cartel, the successor of the Los Zetas criminal organization.
The Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday that an official complaint against Trevigno prosecuted 11 criminal associations for drug smuggling and other crimes that could result in a lifetime of imprisonment.
Ricardo Mejia, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Public Security of Mexico, said Trevigno was deported on Tuesday because he was a US citizen.
If Treviño had Mexican citizenship, he would have gone through a lengthy extradition process, but Mejia stated that Treviño did not have a Mexican identity certificate and that the country had no record of himself.
On Wednesday, copies of birth certificates and other Mexican documents named Treviño were circulated on social media, indicating that they have Mexican citizenship.However, we cannot verify the authenticity of such documents.Searching government websites using the data displayed in the document resulted in a response to “incorrect information.”
After being arrested on Sunday, members of the Trevigno criminal group began shooting at various points in Nuevo Laredo, including the US consulate. The consulate was closed indefinitely, and the two border bridges leading to Laredo, Texas were briefly closed due to the incident.
The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salazar, said in a statement on Monday that he “directly expressed deep concern to the Mexican government about these events and the safety of its employees.”
It is reported that Trevigno was delivered to the United States from the border bridge in Tijuana, hundreds of kilometers west of Nuevo Laredo, preventing attempts to liberate him.
According to several reports, Trevigno is the nephew of Miguel Ángel Trevigno, a former Capo from Los Zetas who was imprisoned. The cartel participated in the bloodiest territorial battle in the United States that attacked both Mexican government forces and rival gangs.
Trevigno, allegedly carrying two illegal weapons at the time of the arrest, is also facing charges of extortion, murder and terrorism in Mexico.