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May 8, 2024 · Opinion | Kidnapped in Mexico: I Am One of the Missing Who Survived - The New York Times. Looking for. the Missing People. of Mexico. Share full article. My partner at the time and I were on...
- Overview
- 'Do Not Travel' warning
- Unlike professional kidnappings
The daylight abduction of a group of U.S. citizens in Mexico would have been nearly impossible to prevent, and it highlights the perils of crossing the southern border into territories run by drug cartels, retired FBI agents said Tuesday.
Two of the U.S. citizens were killed, and the two others have returned to the U.S.
“The big takeout is the border is wide open, and drug cartels are operating and controlling the border,” said former FBI special agent Peter Yachmetz, who was a certified hostage negotiator. “Do not go through any of these border crossings. It is a known 'Do Not Travel zone.'”
The U.S. group was most likely attacked and abducted by cartel gunmen in a case of mistaken identity, a law enforcement official has said, and the Mexican authorities’ hypothesis is “that it was confusion, not a direct attack,” the state prosecutor said.
The four U.S. citizens drove a minivan with North Carolina plates into Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on Friday. The group was said to have been in the country for a cosmetic procedure.
The city is just south of Brownsville, Texas.
Violence is not rare in Tamaulipas state, where the U.S. State Department has issued a “Do Not Travel” warning, citing, organized crime activity, gunbattles, armed robbery and kidnappings.
And while kidnappings are a threat in the area, this one unfolded in a far different manner, experts say.
“It looks like it was potentially a random act of violence. And if that is the case, then that is very difficult to prevent,” said Toni Chrabot, a retired FBI special agent who was a certified hostage negotiator.
“It appears the family of one of the victims may have reported the kidnapping to the FBI, but it is unclear why the group was targeted. This does not appear to have been a kidnap for ransom, and there are a lot of unanswered questions.”
Don Aviv, the president of Interfor International, an intelligence and security consulting firm based in New York that works to free people being held for ransom, said that typically, abductions and negotiations are not discussed publicly.
The parties have a mutual interest in trying to avoid bad publicity, he said.
“If it gets to the point where the FBI needs to get involved, you’ve already lost. The game is lost for the safe return,” Aviv said. “When the FBI gets involved, it means that someone has reported it to the FBI — it’s gone messy.”
More coverage of deadly Mexico abduction
Aviv said that often, with “professional kidnappers, the guys that know this is a financial transaction, everything goes smoothly.”
“If you’re dealing with hotheads, and it may not have anything to do with money … that’s when things tend not to go right,” he said. “Because it’s not about the money — it’s about retribution or narcotrafficking of some kind.”
Mar 24, 2024 · By The Associated Press. MEXICO CITY — Mexican authorities said they rescued 42 hostages, including 18 children, from criminal groups Saturday after a wave of kidnappings in Sinaloa state,...
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May 13, 2023 · We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us.
Mar 9, 2023 · Four Americans were shot at and kidnapped after they drove into Matamoros, Mexico, just south of Brownsville, Texas, for a medical procedure. Video showed a gunman dragging people into a white...
Apr 12, 2023 · CNN — More than a month after four Americans were attacked and kidnapped by a drug cartel in Mexico, the two survivors say they’re still recovering from the trauma of the terrifying ordeal...
Mar 8, 2023 · One of the survivors of the kidnapping of four Americans in the Mexican border city of Matamoros was shot three times in the legs, his wife told CNN. Michele Williams said she spoke with Eric...
