Fast and Furious Part II – Two U.S. Citizens Shot in Mexico… by Federales; Unclear if They Were DEA or U.S. Military

By Mario Andrade
DeadlineLive.info
August 24, 2012

Two U.S. citizens have been shot near the Mexican city of Cuernavaca early Friday morning. So far, there are conflicting reports as to whether they were DEA agents or members of the U.S. Military. Some Mexican news outlets are reporting that they were diplomats; others are reporting that they were DEA agents. To contradict things even more, CNN reported that there were actually three injured Americans, and they were U.S. Marines.

The Mexican media reported that the Americans were traveling from Mexico City to Cuernavaca onboard a Mexican Government ‘diplomatic’ vehicle – a Toyota SUV. According to initial reports, the two Americans were being escorted by four Mexican Marines, who were also shot and injured during the incident. However, other news outlets reported that only one Mexican Marine was with them; he was the driver of the SUV.

The Mexican Navy also stated that minutes earlier, the personnel onboard the pick-up truck had recently left a shooting range, in which the U.S. citizens were providing training to the Mexican Marines. This would lead to the possibility that they were members of the U.S. Special Forces, Marine Special Ops, like Scout Snipers or Recon. Mexican officials continue to issue statements that the U.S. citizens were civilian ‘embassy personnel,’ which seems to contradict the Mexican Navy’s statement mentioning that they were military instructors.

According to initial Mexican government reports, the shooters that tried to assassinate all the passengers onboard the SUV, were drug cartel members. However, the Mexican Navy issued a statement pointing the finger at the Mexican Federal Police as being the aggressors. Recent Mexican media reports mention that the ‘diplomatic’ SUV was ambushed when it was enroute to a Mexican Navy Base in El Capulin. The Mexican Marine Officer who was driving the vehicle called the Navy base for help; however, his fellow Marines arrived too late.

“Among the shooters, there were federal police officers and plain-clothes undercover officers. They clearly saw us unarmed, but they opened fire on us anyway,” said a Mexican Marine. The two U.S. citizens were transported to a hospital in the city of Cuernavaca and they are expected to recover soon. They are being guarded by Mexican Federal Police (the same agency that shot them).

The incident resembles the attack on two U.S. ICE Agents in San Luis Potosi about two years ago, when ICE Agent Jaime Zapata was killed by a group of gunmen. The shooting is among many that have taken place in Central Mexico, such as the one in the Coyoacan area, where two Colombians and one Israeli citizen were arrested at a safe house where they were guarding several kilos of cocaine.