Four Americans fired on, kidnapped just over the border in Mexico

[Zorro]

Source: Washington Post

Four U.S. citizens are missing after they were kidnapped from their vehicle by unidentified armed men in Mexico, officials in both countries said.

The Americans came under fire shortly after they crossed the border Friday into the city of Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Tex., the FBI said in a statement posted Sunday on the website of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. The Americans were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina plates.

“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said.

U.S. officials said Monday they have no evidence the Americans were targeted because they had links to organized crime in Mexico. None of the four have criminal records, they said.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/03/06/americans-kidnapped-mexico-matamoros/

[jpak]

1. When I lived in TX

I stayed white the fuck away from border towns.

Neutral loreado was OK for beans and coffee but the rest fucking sucked.

Yup

[OnlinePoker]

3. "...white the fuck away..."?

Freudian slip?

[cstanleytech]

7. That or text to speech which can really screw up. An example is that I

stopped at Dunkin with my sister-in-law this morning and bought a coffee and then dropped her off to work and then texted her with Google voice that she broke my stir stick.
Google sent her that she broke my messerschmitt.
Edit: Forgot to mention autocorrect which can mess up almost as bad.

[Hortensis]

4. Terrible. CNN is reporting it resulted from mistaken identity,

according to a U.S. official involved in the investigation. Receipts show they traveled there for medical procedures. The president of Mexico's information is they traveled there for medicines and got caught up in a confrontation between groups.

Hope the mixup is corrected safely and quick.

I identify with these are people, even if their license plate says NC. When we lived in SoCal, it was common for people we knew, and us, to cross the border for whatever. Not medical, but car painting, shopping, entertainment, etc. Thirty years ago, I had some free time in El Paso so walked across from to Juarez and toured the city alone during Independence Day. Ran across a few pissy Mexicans feeling their "independence," and some men tried to follow me once in a truck (I was 30 years younger), but mostly it was just a very nice, fun day among the crowds out to celebrate. Probably wouldn't go alone these days.

[BlueTsunami2018]

5. This happens quite a lot but isn't often reported.

It’s estimated that over 400 Americans get kidnapped in Mexico each year. Usually, it’s by low level criminals seeking relatively “reasonable” ransom amounts of around $5k.

From what people have told me, it’s best to pay for a cartel associated escort if you want to party in Mexico and avoid such a fate. Nobody messes with the cartels and they provide cartel owned and operated entertainment at reasonable prices.

Hopefully, this family is returned unharmed.

[riversedge]

16. one was carried into the van...........

It is hard telling by this description if-or how badly hurt any of the USA citizens were hurt.




She said the gunmen forced a woman, who was able to walk, into the back of a pickup truck. Another person was carried to the truck but could still move his head.

“The other two they dragged across the pavement, we don’t know if they were alive or dead,” she said.

Mexican authorities arrived minutes later..............

https://apnews.com/article/mexico-americans-kidnapped-gulf-drug-cartel-2700637729e8f3a5065005231aa8d4d3

[rockfordfile]

6. To Mexico for medical ?

[moonscape]

10. I have a friend who drove across to get implants at

a fraction of the cost here. Went well, she’s pleased.

[riversedge]

17. I live in NM for awhile-it was common to travel to Mexico for medical treatments, dental

work and medicine. that was about 13 years ago.

[markodochartaigh]

18. I used to live in Dallas.

Even that far from the border it was common for people with no, or poor, insurance to go to México for medical, pharmaceutical, or dental needs. Now that I have retired to Florida it was cheaper for me to fly to Cancún for dental work and medical care than it would have been for me to get the same work done here, even including the hotel and meals. And after being treated by a couple of doctors here in Florida who clearly did not want to treat working class patients I would have paid a premium for my treatment in México.

[EX500rider]

27. Check Colombia next time

Cheaper then Mexico and sadly safer these days, R/T on Spirit from Tampa or Orlando or Ft Lauderdale can be $300-$400 and they do very good work, friend of mine who is a doctor went for full dental implants. I just go for vacation so far. Medellin which is at 5,000ft and avg temp is 72f.

[markodochartaigh]

28. Thank you. I might do that. I'm a semi-retired nurse,

and I happen to have friends of friends in México.

[Cha]

8. That's Scary as Hell.. Please

bring them back FBI in a Safe Return.



TY

[BlueManiac]

9. Crazy thing is

they are moving up here. Yes, even in Maine, the cartels have been here enforcing their rules on people.

When Ornage Man was being hard on the refugees seeking asylum, he let in the crooks to help support his life style.

[snowybirdie]

11. 25 years ago

we used to drive all,over Mexico. They'd even built great toll roads, mostly driven by American tourists. Medicine was much cheaper there too, as well as dental work. We never felt fear or unsafe. Times have really changed and it isn't recommended any longer. Sad. We had such wonderful adventures driving there.

[getagrip_already]

13. Heck, 25 years ago Tijuana was a fun day trip from San Diego....

Exotic, yet grungy. Good way to pass the day in markets or walking around. Very safe in daytime.

Now? Not so much I hear, but I haven't been there in a loooong time.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

26. WAY back (1966) we went to Ciudad Juarez because we wanted to get some drinks, ...

... and we were underage. It was a nice little excursion, a break from Army basic training in El Paso.

I think that was before anyone had heard the word "cartel".

[Pas-de-Calais]

12. Wife & I walked into Matamoros back in '88

Doing a swing thru various TX towns. She wanted a silver chain necklace and heard Mexico had quality silver at lower prices.

So, we’re being led, by kids to a place that sells ehat we want. Left, down 3 streets, right, down 2 streets, right again before getting there. I figured, hope we’re safe, turns out we were, thankfully.

Appraised back home for exact amount we paid.
Could have been alot worse. We were lucky. Never told the wife,,,

[CanonRay]

14. I lived 7 miles from the border

and went often to Nuevo Progresso, but sometimes Matamoros or Reynosa. Never had any trouble. Moved north in 2013.

[Emile]

15. Lester Holt said they crossed the border for cosmetic surgery.

[question everything]

20. How common is this crossing station? Pretty scary

[Judi Lynn]

21. Video appears to show violent kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico

Alfredo Peña
14:36, Mar 07 20

- video at link -

Four Americans who travelled into Mexico got caught up in a deadly drug-related shootout and kidnapped by heavily armed men on Friday (local time), officials from both countries have said.

The US citizens crossed the border in Texas and came under fire shortly after entering the eastern Mexican city of Matamoros.

A video posted to social media shows men with assault rifles and body armour then loading the four people into a white truck in broad daylight. One is alive and sitting up, but the others appeared dead or wounded. At least one person appeared to lift his head from the pavement before being dragged to the truck.

“All four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men,” the FBI said in a statement. A US$50,000 reward has been offered for the victims’ return and the arrest of the kidnappers.

Read more: https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/us-canada/300824319/video-appears-to-show-violent-kidnapping-of-four-americans-in-mexico

[Judi Lynn]

22. What we know about the Americans kidnapped in Mexico

MARCH 6, 2023 / 8:06 PM / CBS NEWS

. . .

Here is what we know so far about the case.

What footage and photos from the scene show
A video posted on Twitter on Friday appears to show the moment the Americans were kidnapped, CBS News correspondent Christina Ruffini reports.

In the video, one woman is forced by men armed with guns to climb into the bed of a white pickup truck. The men then proceed to drag two people into the vehicle.

The first woman is walking and sits in the back of the truck; the other two people seem to be unresponsive, but their condition is unknown. The video appears to show some of them may be wounded.

Photographs from the scene viewed by the AP show a white minivan with the driver's side window shot and all of the doors open. The van sits on the side of the road after apparently colliding with a red SUV. The photos show people lying in the street next to the van surrounded by rifle-toting men.

The photos seem to match the video posted online, which was taken from another angle.

More:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-kidnapped-mexico-matamoros-border-what-we-know/

[Judi Lynn]

23. Four U.S. citizens kidnapped in Mexico might have been mistaken as Haitian drug smugglers

The Lead

CNN video below:

https://us.cnn.com/videos/tv/2023/03/06/tl-4p-rosa-flores-kylie-atwood-jake-tapper-live.cnn

[Judi Lynn]

24. 1 of 4 people kidnapped in Mexico is Myrtle Beach resident, family spokesperson says

By Kristin Nelson
Published: Mar. 6, 2023 at 5:18 PM CST|Updated: 4 hours ago

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF/AP) – Gunmen kidnapped four U.S. citizens who crossed into Mexico from Texas last week so one of them could undergo a cosmetic surgical procedure but were caught in a shootout that killed at least one Mexican citizen, U.S. and Mexican officials said Monday.

One of the four Americans kidnapped is a Myrtle Beach resident, according to the family spokesperson.
The spokesperson identified the Myrtle Beach resident as LaTavia Washington McGee, who is also a native of Lake City.

The family spokesperson said they were contacted by the FBI on Monday to confirm that McGee and three of her friends were taken.

WMBF News is still working to confirm the identities of the other three people involved.

More:
https://www.wmbfnews.com/2023/03/06/1-4-people-kidnapped-mexico-is-myrtle-beach-resident-family-spokesperson-says/

[Judi Lynn]

25. Borderland Beat on the 4 Americans:

LIVE THREAD: Four Americans Kidnapped in Matamoros Identified, FBI Offering Reward, US Ambassador Visiting Mexican Officials

By HEARST 3/06/2023 12:08:00 PM
Borderland Beat Contributors



The FBI announced that a minivan carrying U.S. citizens was shot at shortly after crossing from Texas into the Mexico border city of Matamoros. The US has identified the four Americans.

News organizations are now confirming that this incident is the same attack in which cartel members can be seen carrying off bodies on video.

Background

Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas, is home to over 580,000 people. It is the second largest city in Tamaulipas (behind Reynosa). Tamaulipas is one of the six Mexican states that the US Department of State advises US citizens to avoid traveling to, citing risks of crime and kidnappings.

“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private automobiles traveling through Tamaulipas, often taking passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the State Department says.

More:
http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2023/03/live-thread-4-americans-kidnapped-in.html