Mexican drug cartel apologizes to 'American families' for 2 dead, allegedly turn over 5 bound men they say are responsible for the 'mistake'

An infamous Mexican drug cartel left an apology for the deaths of two American citizens and kidnapping of two others and allegedly turned in five men they claimed were responsible for the "mistake."

The four Americans had crossed into the border city of Matamoros seeking a cosmetic surgical procedure when they were fired upon and kidnapped by unidentified assailants. Two returned to the U.S., one with gunshot injuries, while two others died from their injuries in Mexico.

Many politicians and other critics demanded a military response from the U.S. against those responsible for the attack.

On Thursday, the Gulf Cartel appeared to issue an apology.

Sources in Matamoros documented a message written on a banner along with a photograph of five men who were reportedly responsible for the attack. The men were bound and beaten and lying face down on the pavement in front of a black truck.

The message apologized to “American families and people in Matamoros” for the attack.

“The men responsible for these actions acted under their own will and lack of discipline against the CDG [Gulf Cartel] rules. We apologize to the family of Miss Arely and the rest of the American families,” the banner read in Spanish.

NBC News reported that it remained unconfirmed whether the five men in the photograph were in custody of law enforcement officials. The report also said that a U.S. official told NBC News they believed the apology and the photograph to be legitimate.

Cartels often leave banners with messages to each other and to law enforcement officials after dumping dead bodies or body parts in Mexico.

The attack in Mexico made national headlines after a shocking video surfaced showing the assailants tossing the bodies of the dead into the back of a pickup next to the two survivors.

Mexican officials said that they believe that the attack was a case of mistaken identity and that the cartel members had fired upon the Americans in belief that they were Haitian smugglers.

Here's the latest about the Matamoros deaths:

Alleged apology letter from Mexican cartel surfaces on social media after kidnappingwww.youtube.com

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