Two More US Citizens Go Missing in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas

“MX” for Borderland Beat

Two brothers who were traveling from Houston, Texas, to San Luis Potosí to visit their father disappeared Sunday after crossing the international border crossing in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

Upon losing contact with them, relatives tracked their cell phones and located them in Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo Leon, but neither they nor their vehicle, a white Silverado 1500 pickup truck with Texas license plates, have been located. The Attorney General’s Office has already issued a search alert.

Authorities presume that the brothers, identified as Víctor and Luis Felipe Aguayo Osorio, aged 48 and 28, respectively, disappeared in Tamaulipas. A police source mentioned that the men were traveling from Houston, Texas, to Villa Ramos, in San Luis Potosí, because their father was ill.

The source explained that at 1:45 a.m. of Sunday, May 16, Luis and Víctor contacted their relatives to let them know that they had just crossed the border bridge of Nuevo Laredo. Near dawn, the source said, the relatives tried to contact them to let them know that their father had already died, but neither Luis or Víctor responded to the call.

The family continued to send text messages and calls, but after failing to get a response, they tracked their cell phones. The GPS of the phones revealed a location near a ranch in Sabinas Hidalgo. However, the authorities presume that the disappearance occurred in Tamaulipas, where similar events have been reported in recent months.

They said that Luis has the words “Aguayo” and “Violeta” tattooed on his right arm, and Victor lacks incisor teeth.

Borderland Beat Analysis

This case brings Nuevo Laredo back to spotlight, especially given the fact that several US citizens have gone missing in the area this year.

In mid-March, three women from Laredo, Texas, disappeared after crossing to Nuevo Laredo for a doctor’s appointment. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) believes they were kidnapped.

The following month, a man from Arizona disappeared near Nuevo Laredo after visiting his girlfriend in Monterrey. His whereabouts are also unknown.

Nuevo Laredo is under the control of the Northeast Cartel (Cartel del Noreste, CDN), a splintered group of the old Zetas cartel. It is rival to the Gulf Cartel (Cartel del Golfo, CDG), based east of Nuevo Laredo all the way to Matamoros.

In the past, the CDN has targeted American drivers in Nuevo Laredo by forcing them to pay money or “cartel tax” (cuota). Most of these incident happened near Luis Donaldo Colosio Avenue, which connects Nuevo Laredo with the federal highway leading to Monterrey.

A source consulted by Borderland Beat confirmed that the cartel has several outlooks posted across the highway that notify other cartel members of potential targets driving through. Borderland Beat published a story with videos showing how the CDN sets up blockades to extort drivers.

It is unknown if the brothers took the Mexican Federal Highway 85D, a toll highway (autopista) that connects Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey before leading to other highways that branch off to San Luis Potosi.

There is another route the brothers could have taken that is far more dangerous: the freeway (libre) roads from Nuevo Laredo to Monterrey. Libre roads are usually two-lane roads and tend to be much older and less sophisticated than toll highways. Since libre roads generally connect to more towns and villages, there is more cartel activity in these roads.

Toll roads in Mexico are generally considered safer than non-toll ones.

Sources: El Norte; Epocaviolenta; Borderland Beat Archives