Police narrative about surfers killed in Mexico ‘for their truck tires’ doesn’t add up: sources

The Mexican police’s model of occasions as to what led to the homicide of three surfers seems shady to these knowlegeable with the realm and native corruption, The Post has discovered.

Rather than being carjacked, Australian brothers Jake, 30, and Callum Robinson, 33, and American Jack Carter Rhoad, 30 — final seen alive on April 27 in town of Ensenada — could have been killed by cartel members searching for a rival gang, as Baja California is at present in the midst of a drug struggle.

Mexican prosecutors mentioned a trio of bandits focused the victims’ truck so they might take its tires then reacted with violence when confronted by the surfers, resulting in their deaths and the our bodies being hidden 4 miles away.

One supply who does personal safety work in Mexico informed The Post the state of affairs is “deeply disturbing” and warned he was cautious of the Police’s model of occasions.

“Basically, the reasoning of them being carjack victims gone wrong makes very little sense. These surfers were well traveled and would most likely know better than to try to fend off a truck jacking,” the supply mentioned.

“My guess is they were mistakenly identified as a rival criminal organization and murdered. That being exposed would create an ongoing investigation that no cartel wants to deal with and would create a devastating impact on tourism in the area,” which is widespread with surfers and guests from the US, the supply defined.

Police have arrested three individuals, Jesús Gerardo Garcia Cota, his accomplice Ari Gisel García Cota, and brother Cristian Alejandro Garcia in connection to the three surfers’ disappearance, however at this stage haven’t charged them with homicide.

Cartels in Baja California are identified to repay police to maintain their names out of their investigations, and Heritage Foundation Latin America skilled Andres Martinez-Fernandez mentioned corruption might simply be at play with the surfers.

“The case is highly unusual, as presented by Mexican police, who say the supposed robbery was done by small-time criminals who ended up destroying the vehicle they were allegedly trying to steal,” he mentioned.

“Given the deep and widespread corruption in the Mexican police, it hard to dismiss the possibility of a coverup, potentially to shift blame away from a powerful drug cartel. This would certainly align with the Mexican government’s efforts to downplay the severity of cartel violence in Mexico,” he added.

Chief state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez mentioned throughout a press convention the alleged killers focused the surfers after noticing their truck and tents.

“They approached, with the intention of stealing their vehicle and taking the tires and other parts to put them on the older-model pickup they were driving,” Andrade Ramirez mentioned.

“When they (the foreigners) came up and caught them, surely, they resisted,” she added. “And these people, the assailants, took out a gun and first they killed the one who was putting up resistance against the vehicle theft, and then others came along and joined the fight to defend their property and their companion who had been attacked, and they killed them too.”

The suspects then burned the surfers’ tents and dumped their our bodies in a 50-foot-deep effectively 4 miles from the homicide scene, Andrade Ramirez mentioned, including the thieves coated the effectively with boards.

“It was literally almost impossible to find it,” Andrade Ramirez mentioned of the effectively.

Canadian Malcom Madsen, 68, was one other foreigner to go lacking in Mexico. He was in Puerta Vallarta in 2018, when he was kidnapped and in the end killed, though his physique has by no means been discovered.

Osborne mentioned “bribery” and corruption are the “norm for most cases” in Mexico. Madsen’s daughter fought to interrupt the corruption in his case after the killer and her accomplices bribed the native prosecuting legal professional and allow them to off the hook for about two years, Osborne mentioned.

In the case of the three surfers, they “went to a remote area of Ensanada where bad things happen and nobody is there to see it,” American Jesse Atkinson, proprietor of Ensenada Excursions and Tours, informed The Post.

Atkinson famous they group had camped in Santo Tomás, a small village roughly 28 miles exterior of town, after they have been killed.

“There’s a lot of places to camp and surf and do stuff, which is amazing, but also there’s not a lot of people out there, so when bad things happen there’s nobody to notice,” Atkinson mentioned.

“The drug cartels are active, you’re not going to run into guys with guns on their shoulders [the Mexican federal police].”

Barnett English’s good friend Wilmer Dean Trivett whose physique was discovered in one other distant space of Mexico south of the place the surfers have been killed informed The Post going to the agricultural spots is asking for bother.

“It seems like if you ever want to go down there and camp and be remote and only be with one or two people it just seems like you’re leaving yourself open, a sitting duck,” English mentioned, including the area “seems less safe than it was years ago.”

Trivett’s physique was discovered in a pit in Baja California Sur and prosecutors mentioned the motive was a “car accident.” Trivett had tried to repay the perpetrators for damages and medical payments related to the collision, however they weren’t glad and determined to kidnap and kill him.

The particulars of the surfers’ killings are nonetheless being investigated by each US authorities and officers in Mexico, a State Department spokesperson informed The Post.

“The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety and security of US citizens overseas,” the spokesperson mentioned.