Four Americans were kidnapped Friday in northeastern Mexico as they crossed the border to buy medication, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has said.
According to the FBI, the four had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, and were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates when a group of gunmen fired at the van, according to The Associated Press.
The group was taken from the van and put into a vehicle and taken away, the U.S. government said.
“There was a confrontation between groups, and they were kidnapped,” López Obrador said Monday. He vowed to work to get the Americans released.
“I think it will get resolved,” López Obrador said. “That’s what I hope.”
According to Ken Salazar, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, a Mexican citizen was killed in the incident.
“We have no higher priority than the safety of our citizens,” the ambassador said.
“Officials from various U.S. law enforcement agencies are working with Mexican authorities at all levels of government to achieve the safe return of our compatriots.”
The U.S. State Department has urged Americans not to travel to Tamaulipas due to “crime and kidnapping.”
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the return of the victims and the arrests of those involved.
