According to a US official, 4 US citizens were abducted by gunmen in Mexico due to a case of mistaken identity.

A US official with knowledge of the inquiry told CNN that four US citizens were abducted and assaulted by gunmen in northeastern Mexico on Friday in a case of mistaken identity.

The official stated that it is thought that the Americans were mistakenly targeted and were not the intended victims. According to the official, authorities think it’s likely that a Mexican drug gang mistaken them for drug traffickers from Haiti. He or she also added that they have not found any evidence of the Americans having any troubling criminal histories.

The official said, based on receipts discovered in the car, that the Americans had driven to the border city of Matamoros for medical operations.

President of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador provided a comparable justification.

The president stated, “According to the information we have, they crossed the border to get medications in Mexico, there was a clash between groups, and they were captured. The entire government is engaged in it.

The episode draws attention to the persistent violence in various Mexican cities, which have been plagued by organized crime at least since the start of the Mexican Drug War in 2006, as well as the expanding “medical tourism” industry.

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The FBI in San Antonio said that the unidentified missing Americans arrived in Matamoros on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates. In that location, they came under fire from unidentified gunmen before being “put in a vehicle and removed from the site by armed persons,” according to the FBI.

Standing next to a white minivan with North Carolina license plates and numerous bullet holes is a member of the Mexican security forces.
Standing next to a white minivan with North Carolina license plates and numerous bullet holes is a member of the Mexican security forces.
Stringer/AP
According to US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar, the incident resulted in the death of an innocent Mexican citizen.

The safety of our residents is our top priority, according to Salazar. “The US government’s most essential function is this. To ensure the safe repatriation of our countrymen, representatives from various American law enforcement agencies are coordinating with Mexican officials at all levels of government.

The public can assist the FBI in locating them and determining who is accountable. The organization declared a $50,000 reward for their safe return and the capture of those responsible. According to the FBI, the kidnapping is being investigated in conjunction with other federal partners as well as Mexican law enforcement organizations.

Federal and local resources have reportedly been mobilized to find the missing people, according to officials in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

Tamaulipas Attorney General Irving Barrios Mojica stated at a news conference that “from the first moment, communication was established between state and federal authorities to address the criminal event, in which two affected vehicles were located, one of which had license plates from the US state of North Carolina.

Authorities stated that an investigation was ongoing. Processed automobiles, ballistics and fingerprint data, biological samples for genetic profiles, and surveillance camera footage are all being collected by investigators.

Sergio Chavez, the public security minister for Tamaulipas, said, “We had an issue, despite the fact that the prosecutor’s office opened a file, which is that we have no information of the disappearance of these persons, therefore there was speculation about where they came from. The prosecutor’s office is focusing the hunt for these missing people based on information that was discovered in the same van today, including a credential and other documents.

For more details, CNN has gotten in touch with the FBI, the Tamaulipas Secretary of Public Security’s office, and the Mexico Attorney General’s Office.

Prior to the kidnappings, photos indicate a car crash.
Two automobiles are parked at the area where a US official claims the missing Americans’ vehicles are connected in Matamoros, Mexico.
Two automobiles are parked at the area where a US official claims the missing Americans’ vehicles are connected in Matamoros, Mexico.
using Twitter
The automobile the Americans are thought to have been driving collided with another vehicle, as seen in photos obtained by CNN, before the Americans were forcibly removed from the site.

The FBI declined to confirm the veracity of the pictures, but CNN was able to get a US official with knowledge of the case to vouch for the pictures’ veracity. The photographs were geolocated by CNN as well.

The pictures show a woman looking at three motionless persons laying on the ground outside a white minivan, then sitting next to them. The van’s doors were all open. It’s unclear if the four individuals in the pictures were US citizens.

The pictures reveal that the woman then appeared to have been placed onto the bed of a white pickup truck. The pictures show a number of motionless individuals lying on the sidewalk near to the pickup truck.

An ambulance is visible in one picture, but it’s not apparent if any medical care was given.

Just over the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas, is the city of Matamoros, which has more than 500,000 residents. For US Americans considering visiting Tamaulipas, the US State Department has issued a “Level 4: Do Not Go” recommendation citing crime and kidnapping.

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American citizens taken captive
Criminal organizations frequently kidnap passengers from passenger buses, both public and private, as well as from private cars passing through Tamaulipas, according to a State Department caution.

For instance, authorities advised parents to keep their children home from school owing to two shootings in the city on the same day as the suspected kidnappings.

A sizable tent camp of migrants, largely from Haiti and Venezuela, camped out in Matamoros in an effort to enter the US and apply for asylum.

Moreover, Mexico is a well-liked location for “medical tourism,” the practice of seeking medical treatment abroad, typically in search of reduced charges or an unapproved procedure.