16 Mexican soldiers arrested for ‘executing’ five men near border 

A Mexican military court ordered the arrest of 16 military soldiers who allegedly took part in the “execution” of five men, the country’s defense ministry said in a statement issued on Saturday. 

According to arrest warrants issued on Thursday, the military personnel were involved in “crimes contrary to military discipline,” after they were caught on video beating and shooting the victims. 

Local newspaper El Pais and Univision published the surveillance footage of the May 18 incident, raising concerns among Mexican authorities. 

The video shows a pickup truck after it crashed into a wall at full speed in the border city of Nuevo Laredo in the northern state of Tamaulipas. A military vehicle with a roof-mounted machine gun pursu the truck, arrived shortly after. About a dozen soldiers are then seen getting out of the vehicle to surround the truck.

The soldiers drag out the five occupants inside the vehicle, kicking them and punching them before they push them against a wall. One of the soldiers removes a large rifle from within the vehicle. 

Then, in a confusing scene, troops are then seen taking cover before shooting at unseen targets. Soon after they shoot the men against the wall. 

Four of the men died at the scene, according to Univision. One of the men who was shot survived, but died later in the hospital. 

According to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the killings seem to have been an “execution” conducted by the troops. 

“Apparently this was an execution, and that cannot be permitted,” President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday during his daily news briefing. “Those responsible are about to be turned over to the appropriate authorities.”

The 16 soldiers involved in the incident were arrested on Thursday and charged with violating “military discipline.” They are also being accused of tampering with the crime scene to cover up the murder.

They are being held at a military prison in Mexico City while they wait for a military trial. 

Nuevo Laredo is a border city across from Laredo, Texas. The region is controlled by the Northeast drug cartel, prompting several shootouts between cartel members, rival gangs, and soldiers.