Judge orders Mexican cartel to pay billions after slaughter of Mormon community 

A federal judge from North Dakota ordered a Mexican cartel to pay $1.5 billion to the family members of nine members of a Mormon community they allegedly killed in Mexico. 

The victim’s family members filed a lawsuit against the Juarez drug cartel, accusing them of carrying out a brutal attack against a Mormon community in Sonora, Mexico, in November 2019 as retribution for criticizing the cartel. 

During the attack, the cartel ambushed the community’s three-car caravan. Cartel members fired hundreds of gunshots into the vehicles with the individuals inside and set them on fire. Those that survived had to walk miles to seek help while wounded. Nine people were killed in the massacre, including three moms and six children. 

“If you start when the first bullet was shot until the last person in that car took their last breath, that must have been close to an hour, maybe, 45 minutes of just total terror,” said trauma surgeon and burn expert Dr. Sebastian Schubl about the attack. "Watching their siblings, their family members burn to death, it’s—it must be the most frightening thing that anyone has ever experienced.” 

The family members that sued the cartel said they were suing to show that the cartel was responsible and seek damages for seven claims that range from acts of international terrorism to inflicting emotional distress.

“We will no longer be silent victims. We will leave no stone unturned in our pursuit of justice for the murder of my daughter and grandchildren,” said Adrian LeBaron Soto, whose daughter was killed in the attack. 

The amount designated by U.S. Magistrate Judge Clare Hochhalter will automatically be tripled under the federal Anti-Terrorism Act, increasing the amount the cartel has to $4.6 billion. 

The cartel did not respond to summons or have representation during the trial, reported the Bismarck Tribute. However, Mexican authorities have identified more than 40 suspects in the attack and have arrested nine members of the cartel in connection to the attack.