MEXICO CITY (AP) — Four U.S. citizens were abducted after gunmen opened fire on the vehicle they were traveling in in the U.S. border town of Matamoros, the FBI said Sunday.
The four men had arrived in Matamoros on Friday from Brownsville, Texas. They were traveling in a white van with North Carolina license plates.
The FBI’s San Antonio Division office said the vehicle was shot down shortly after entering Mexico.
“Gunmen placed the four Americans in a vehicle and drove off,” the office said. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for returning victims and arresting those responsible.
Matamoros is the scene of a turf war between factions of the Gulf Cartel.
The shootings in Matamoros have reached such a pitch that the American consulate issued a risk alert on Friday.
Tamaulipas state police reported that some people were killed and injured on Friday, but did not specify the number.