Mexican cartel suspected in murders of five rideshare drivers near border

The bodies of five missing rideshare drivers were recovered after each went missing while taking riders to the United States-Mexico border. Mexican cartel La Linea has been named as the prime suspect in their deaths.

The district attorney's office in the northern Mexico state of Chihuahua said in a new statement that the remains of the five drivers were found late last week and have since been confirmed by forensic investigators as the five missing drivers.

“With all certainty, we have a line of investigation, we have a motive, and we have a criminal group [identified]. The investigation is ongoing,” said Chihuahua Attorney General Cesar Gustavo Jauregui Moreno on Monday.

The drivers went missing on May 30 after they were believed to have each picked up riders in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua, and told to travel three hours away to Ojinaga, a Mexican city that borders Presidio, Texas.

Prosecutors have not disclosed why all five drivers were targeted or why their bodies were found back in Chihuahua City.

Jauregui Moreno said Monday that the La Linea cartel controls human smuggling through the region and that the likely reason for the driver's murders was because they had not "paid the fee" to the cartel in order to move people through the area, costing the cartel profit and angering them, according to El Heraldo Chihuahua.

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The missing drivers have been identified as Abigael Ramos Gonzalez, Abigael Ramos Torres, Fabian Ramos Torres, Sandra Salais Calzadillas, and Francisco Ivan Flores Hernandez.

Their remains were identified through fingerprints and dental records. Autopsies conducted by Chihuahua officials revealed each victim was fatally shot at the base of the skull.