4 U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Mexico during trip to buy medicine: officials – National | 24CA News
Gunmen kidnapped 4 U.S. residents who crossed into Mexico from Texas final week to purchase drugs however have been caught in a shootout that killed at the very least one Mexican citizen, U.S. and Mexican officers mentioned Monday.
The 4 have been in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. They got here beneath hearth on Friday shortly after getting into the town of Matamoros from Brownsville, the southernmost tip of Texas close to the Gulf coast, the FBI San Antonio Division workplace mentioned in an announcement Sunday.
“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the workplace mentioned. The FBI is providing a $50,000 reward for the victims’ return and the arrest of the abductors.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador mentioned Monday the 4 have been going to purchase drugs, “there was a confrontation between groups, and they were detained,” with out providing particulars.
A girl driving in Matamoros noticed what gave the impression to be the taking pictures and abduction. She requested to not be recognized for worry of reprisal.
The scene illustrates the phobia that has prevailed for years in Matamoros, a metropolis dominated by factions of the Gulf cartel who usually struggle amongst themselves. Amid the violence, 1000’s of Mexicans have disappeared simply in Tamaulipas state, the place Matamoros is situated.
Gunmen kidnapped 4 U.S. residents who crossed into Mexico from Texas final week to purchase drugs and bought caught in a shootout.
The Associated Press
The girl mentioned she noticed the white minivan get hit by one other car close to an intersection, then gunfire rang out.
Another SUV rolled up and a number of other armed males hopped out.
“All of a sudden they (the gunmen) were in front of us,” she mentioned. “I entered a state of shock, nobody honked their horn, nobody moved. Everybody must have been thinking the same thing, `if we move they will see us, or they might shoot us.”’
She mentioned the gunmen compelled a girl, who was capable of stroll, into the again of a pickup truck. Another individual was carried to the truck by the gunmen however may nonetheless transfer his head.
“The other two they dragged across the pavement, we don’t know if they were alive or dead,” she mentioned.
Mexican authorities arrived minutes later.
A video posted to social media Friday reveals males with assault rifles and tan physique armor loading the 4 folks into the mattress of a pickup truck in broad daylight. One was alive and sitting up, however the others gave the impression to be both useless or wounded.
Shootouts in Matamoros on Friday have been so dangerous that the U.S. Consulate issued an alert concerning the hazard and native authorities warned folks to shelter in place. It was not instantly clear how the abductions may have been linked to that violence Friday.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar mentioned in an announcement Monday that the Americans have been kidnapped at gunpoint and an “innocent” Mexican citizen died within the assault. He mentioned numerous U.S. justice companies have been working with their Mexican counterparts to recuperate the lacking. Authorities have supplied no different particulars about who the victims have been or the place they have been from.
President Joe Biden had been knowledgeable of the state of affairs, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned Monday. She declined to reply different questions, citing privateness issues.
Tamaulipas state police mentioned folks had been killed and injured Friday, however not what number of. The state police mentioned on social media that neither legislation enforcement nor the navy have been concerned in “two armed incidents between unidentified civilians.”
Victims of violence in Matamoros and different massive border cities of Tamaulipas usually go uncounted, as a result of the cartels have a historical past taking our bodies of their very own with them. Local media usually keep away from reporting on such incidents out of security issues, creating an data vacuum.
Photographs from the scene considered by The Associated Press present a white minivan with the motive force’s facet window shot out and all the doorways open, sitting on the facet of the street after apparently colliding with purple SUV. Multiple folks have been mendacity on the street beside it surrounded by rifle-toting gunmen.
Their positions appeared to correspond with the video posted on-line that was taken from one other angle, which confirmed them being dragged throughout the road and loaded into the mattress of a white pickup. One one that was sitting up on the street walks beneath their very own energy to the pickup. At least one different appeared to carry his head from the pavement earlier than being dragged to the truck.
Tamaulipas state’s many border crossings with Texas make it profitable for the cartels that transfer medication, migrants and weapons between Mexico and the U.S.
The State Department’s journey warning for Tamaulipas warns U.S. residents to not journey there. However, being a border metropolis, U.S. residents who stay in Brownsville or elsewhere in Texas steadily cross to go to household, attend medical appointments or store. It would even be a crossing level for folks touring deeper into Mexico.
Previously, because the headquarters of the highly effective Gulf cartel, Matamoros was comparatively calm. For years, an evening out in Matamoros was additionally a part of the “two-nation vacation” for spring breakers flocking to Texas’ South Padre Island.
But elevated cartel violence over the previous 10 to fifteen years frightened away a lot of that business. Sometimes U.S. residents are swept up within the violence.
Three U.S. siblings disappeared close to Matamoros in October 2014 and have been later discovered shot to demise and burned. They had disappeared two weeks earlier whereas visiting their father in Mexico. Their dad and mom mentioned they’d been kidnapped by males wearing police gear figuring out themselves as “Hercules,” a tactical safety unit within the violent border metropolis.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
