MEXICO: The FBI said on Sunday that four American nationals were shot at and kidnapped by armed miscreants after driving across the US border into northeastern Mexico.
The Americans on Friday crossed into Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state, driving a white minivan with North Carolina registration, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a statement released by the US embassy in Mexico said.
“Shortly after crossing into Mexico state, unidentified gunmen opened fire at the passengers in the minivan. All four American citizens were placed in a vehicle and taken from the area by armed men,” the FBI said.
Authorities investigating kidnapping of American citizens
Matamoros, located across the United States border from Brownsville, Texas, has been beset by violence associated with drug trafficking and other organized crime.
Tamaulipas’s highways are considered the most dangerous in Mexico due to the danger of kidnapping and extortion by criminal groups.
Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $50,000 reward for assistance in the unidentified victims’ rescue and the arrest of the criminals.
The FBI said the US and Mexican authorities are investigating the incident.
