Mexico City, March 7 (AFP\/APP): Two of the four US citizens kidnapped after crossing the border into crime-plagued northeastern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The attorney general’s office confirmed that of the four abductees “two of them are dead, one person is injured and the other is alive,” Tamaulipas state governor Americo Villarreal told a news conference by telephone.<\/p>\n
The US citizens crossed into Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state, on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said in an earlier statement.<\/p>\n
It offered a $50,000 reward for help leading to the return of the unidentified victims and the arrest of the perpetrators.<\/p>\n
“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in the (minivan). All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said.<\/p>\n
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Monday that the victims were believed to have entered the country to buy medicines and got caught up in a confrontation between criminal groups.<\/p>\n
“We’re very sorry that this is happening in our country,” Lopez Obrador told reporters after the confirmation of the deaths.<\/p>\n
“We send our condolences to the families of the victims, to friends, to the people of the United States, to the US government,” he added.<\/p>\n
A Mexican national was killed in the incident.<\/p>\n
Matamoros, located across the US border from Brownsville, Texas, has been beset by violence linked to drug trafficking and other organized crime.<\/p>\n
The White House on Monday described the abductions as “unacceptable” and said President Joe Biden’s administration was coordinating with Mexican authorities.<\/p>\n
“Our thoughts are with the families of these individuals,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said.<\/p>\n
Mexico is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen more than 340,000 people murdered since the government deployed the military in the war on drugs in 2006.<\/p>\n
The US State Department advises against travel to Tamaulipas due to crime and kidnapping.<\/p>\n
“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 capital, according to a US travel advisory.<\/p>\n
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” it warned.<\/p>\n
Despite the risks, Matamoros, located on the banks of the Rio Grande river separating the two countries, is a major stopping point for migrants heading for the United States.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mexico City, March 7 (AFP\/APP): Two of the four US citizens kidnapped after crossing the border into crime-plagued northeastern Mexico have been found dead, Mexican authorities said Tuesday. The attorney general’s office confirmed that of the four abductees “two of them are dead, one person […]<\/p>\n
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