When four Americans were kidnapped in the Mexican hot zone of Matamoros, on the border of Brownsville, Texas, last Friday — with two of them ending up dead — it was, apparently, ultra-violent business as usual for the area where the Gulf Cartel and its rival Zetas often engage in bloody battle.
The Gulf Cartel, which has controlled the area since the 1930s, is suspected of being involved in the deadly incident.
“They live off of extortion, kidnapping and protection money,” Guadalupe Corre...