Four Americans shot at and kidnapped in Mexico
Four Americans were shot at and kidnapped shortly after crossing the border into Mexico, the US Embassy said on Sunday.
The incident happened on Friday, when the Americans traveling south out of Brownsville, Texas crossed the border into Matamoros, Tamaulipas.
The Americans were driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the US Embassy in Mexico confirmed. They were waylaid shortly after the crossing by ‘unidentified gunmen,’ who opened fire on the minivan.
The four Americans pulled over and were forced at gunpoint into another vehicle.
The victims have not yet been identified by American or Mexican investigators.
The FBI is also offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of the victims and the arrest of the kidnappers.
The US State Department has issued travel restrictions for government employees in Tamaulipas. They also issued a ‘Do Not Travel’ warning for all US citizens for the state in northern Mexico.
‘Organized crime activity – including gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault – is common along the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria,’ the State Department stated. ‘Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments.’
They also warn that ‘heavily armed’ members of criminal gangs frequently patrol the border cities of Matamoros, Reynosa, and Nuevo Laredo.
The US Consulate in Matamoros issued an emergency alert on Friday after reports of gun violence following the death of a Mexican national in the city.
Matamoros is home to the Gulf Cartel. In September 2022, the former head of the organized crime syndicate Jorge Costilla-Sanchez was sentenced to life in prison after a trial in a US federal court.
Costilla-Sanchez, a former municipal police officer from Matamoros, ran the Gulf Cartel from 2003 to 2012, the FBI said. He was responsible for importing over 10,000 kilograms of cocaine and 140,000 kilograms of marijuana into the US during his time as leader.
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