Four Americans kidnapped at gunpoint after driving across US-Mexico border in white minivan
Four Americans abducted at gunpoint after crossing the US-Mexico border in a white minibus have been missing for three days: FBI offers $50,000 reward
- The Americans reportedly entered the border town of Matamoros, Mexico, on Friday in a white minibus with North Carolina license plates.
- “All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the agency said
- Matamoros is in one of six Mexican states that the U.S. state currently has listed in its strictest “no travel” category
Shocking cell phone video captured the horrifying moment when four Americans were loaded into the back of a pickup truck after being shot at and kidnapped in Mexico.
The victims, whose names have not been released, were attacked by a group of gunmen shortly after they entered the border town of Matamoros on Friday.
The FBI said the group entered Matamoros through Brownsville, Texas. They had traveled in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates.
The video shows one of the gunmen escorting a woman to the pickup and forcing her to sit on the back of the truck. Meanwhile, his cohort drags a man across the sidewalk before he and two other men are dumped into the vehicle.
The vehicle came under fire shortly after entering Mexican territory, according to an investigation being conducted by the FBI’s San Antonio office.
“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the agency said.
The Gateway International Bridge spans the Rio Grande in the border town of Matamoros, Mexico
A map showing the six of the 32 Mexican states that the US State Department has currently listed in its strictest “no travel” category due to local cartels that may rob and/or kidnap US tourists
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of the victims and the arrest of the perpetrators.
Matamoros is known as an area partially occupied by warring factions of the Gulf-dug cartels.
Gang shootings in Matamoros have become so treacherous that the US consulate warned of the danger on Friday.
Tamaulipas state police said people had been killed and injured on Friday, but did not say how many.
Matamoros is in one of six Mexican states that the U.S. state currently has listed in its strictest “no travel” category due to local cartels that may rob and/or kidnap U.S. tourists.