Mexico and the United States are coordinating actions four Americans were kidnapped in the Mexican city of Matamoros, in an incident in which a woman died, authorities from both countries reported.
“The whole government is working there” in its investigation, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said, confirming the abduction in a regular press conference.
“These types of attacks are unacceptable,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a briefing, adding that President Joe Biden’s administration is “closely monitoring” the case.
During the interrogation, the Mexican citizen died, confirmed the prosecutor of the state of Tamaulipas, Irving Barrios, who confirmed that there are continuous efforts to locate the victims and to learn the circumstances of the incident.
“The job is to locate citizens, clarify the facts and find probable crimes,” Barrios declared in a press conference in Victoria Ciudad, in the city of Tamaulipas.
See also: Why do Americans migrate and stay in Mexico?
For now, investigations are focused on the analysis of the two vehicles involved in the tampering, the lifting of fingerprints and the review of public and private cameras that recorded the attack.
According to López Obrador, the victims are US citizens who “crossed the border to buy medicine in Mexico and there was a conflict between the groups and they were arrested”.
The Americans had come to Matamoros (northern state of Tamaulipas) in a white van with North Carolina license plates, according to the US Federal FBI investigation.
“As soon as they crossed into Mexico, the gunmen opened fire on the passengers of the unknown vehicle. The four Americans were thrown into the car and taken away by the gunmen,” the police agency added.
Mexico works with the FBI
López Obrador explained that the FBI is working with the Mexican Secretary of Security and is “in communication” with the head of that office, Rosa Icela RodrÃguez.
United States Ambassador Ken Salazar met with the Mexican president, but the government palace spoke without press.
Earlier, Salazar stated that “various US law enforcement agencies” are cooperating with the Mexican authorities “to achieve the safe return” of their citizens.
You may also be interested in: Family drama over Colombian death while trying to cross the border between Mexico and the US.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the rescue of the victims — whose identities have not been released — and the arrest of the suspects.
Matamoros is violently linked to drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.
The roads of Tamaulipas are considered among the most dangerous in Mexico.
In fact, for several months, the United States of America has so vigorously maintained that its citizens, on account of kidnapping and other charges, have refrained from traveling to that country.
According to that warning, organized crime activity includes shootings, murders, robberies, plagiarisms, disappearances, extortions and sexual assaults.
In this regard, the spokesperson for the US Department of State, Ned Price, reminded his citizens that the intended trip to Tamaulipas is still in force.
Don’t go. We encourage Americans to listen to this plan.
The consular cohorts were also forbidden to travel on the roads of the rear regions.
