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Cartel Brutality: Gunmen Storm Hospital, Patient Later Found Dismembered

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Members of a Mexican cartel were captured on video storming a hospital and kidnapping a patient who was later found dismembered, Fox News reported.

Video footage of the kidnapping was released less than a week after 21 people were killed during a shootout between law enforcement and cartels just south of the U.S.-Mexican border.

The kidnapping happened Nov. 21 at the General Hospital of Salvatierra in the state of Guanajuato.

A Spanish-language news source described the over half-dozen men who stormed the hospital as “hitmen.”

The cartel gunmen searched the hospital for one of the patients while the security guard was held at gunpoint.

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Not only did they find the man and lead him away, they were also able to forestall the attention of the authorities.

According to reports, the criminals took all cell phones from hospital staff to prevent them from making outside calls.

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The man who was taken away was found dismembered a few hours later, according to reports. His body was found on white sheets and a blanket; a nearby piece of cardboard had a message written on it.

“It’s not yet known who the gunmen were or why they targeted the patient. However, armed men stormed two other hospitals last month in Juventino Rosas and Apaseo el Grande, where they kidnapped and killed male patients who had been admitted with gunshot wounds,” Fox News reported.

According to the U.K. Daily Mail, the incident comes as Guanajuato has seen an uptick in violence from the Santa Rosa de Lima and Jalisco cartels.

In the past several days, 37 murders were reported in the area.

Authorities responded by raiding various safe-houses used by the cartels on Nov. 27.

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The video was released after a weekend gunfight which left over 20 people dead and law enforcement searching for remaining members of the cartel who carried it out.

Both incidents are bound to put President Trump’s call to designate cartels as terrorists back into the spotlight.

Last month, in an interview with Bill O’Reilly, Trump said that cartels “will be designated [terrorists] … I have been working on that for the last 90 days. You know, designation is not that easy, you have to go through a process, and we are well into that process.”

To be defined as a terror group under U.S. law, an organization must be “politically motivated,” a hurdle that might be difficult for the Trump administration to clear.

However, an argument could also be made that, given the level of political involvement by cartels in Mexico’s political life — through bribery and intimidation — that they clear that hurdle.

Something needs to be done. Whether a terror designation — which would allow the United States to target financing and make it illegal for people in America to knowingly offer support to members of the cartels, among other things — will ameliorate this is anyone’s guess. Worse ideas have been proffered.

What’s clear is that this violence needs to be contained. This isn’t some war zone from halfway around the world. This is a problem our neighbor is dealing with. A hands-off policy simply won’t do.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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