The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) provided a $50,000 reward for assist discovering the unidentified victims and arresting the perpetrators of the incident, during which a Mexican nationwide was killed.

The US residents crossed into Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state, on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the FBI mentioned in an announcement launched by the US embassy in Mexico.

“Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers within the (minivan). All 4 Individuals had been positioned in a car and brought from the scene by armed males,” the FBI mentioned.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador mentioned the victims had been believed to have entered the nation to purchase medicines and bought caught up in a confrontation between legal teams.

The Mexican safety ministry was working with the FBI to seek out them, he informed reporters.

The US ambassador to Mexico, Ken Salzar, mentioned in an announcement that an “harmless Mexican citizen was tragically killed” within the incident.

“US legislation enforcement officers from quite a few companies are working with Mexican authorities in any respect ranges of presidency to safe the protected return of our compatriots,” he added.

The White Home mentioned it was intently following the case.

“These types of assaults are unacceptable,” spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre mentioned.

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“Our ideas are with the households of those people,” she mentioned, including that the US administration was coordinating with Mexican authorities.

Matamoros, situated throughout the US border from Brownsville, Texas, has been beset by violence linked to drug trafficking and different organized crime.

Tamaulipas’s highways are thought of among the many most harmful in Mexico because of the menace of kidnapping and extortion by legal gangs.

The US consulate in Matamoros had issued an alert on Friday warning of police exercise in reference to a capturing within the metropolis.

US authorities staff had been instructed to keep away from the realm till additional discover, it mentioned.

The US State Division advises towards journey to Tamaulipas attributable to crime and kidnapping.

“Organized crime exercise — together with gun battles, homicide, armed theft, carjacking, kidnapping, pressured disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault — is widespread alongside the northern border and in Ciudad Victoria,” the state capital, based on a US journey advisory.

“Legal teams goal private and non-private passenger buses, in addition to personal cars touring by means of Tamaulipas, typically taking passengers and demanding ransom funds,” it warned.

Regardless of the risks, Matamoros, situated on the banks of the Rio Grande River separating the 2 nations, is a significant stopping level for migrants hoping to enter the USA.