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The FBI is asking the public for help locating four Americans who were kidnapped in Mexico on Friday (March 3). A statement released by United States Embassy in Mexico said that the group drove into the border town of Matamoros in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates.
Officials did not release the identity of the kidnapped victims.
Shortly after crossing the border, the group was ambushed by unidentified gunmen who then kidnapped them.
The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for any information that leads to the safe rescue of the victims and the arrest of the kidnappers.
Matamoros is just across from Brownsville, Texas, and is home to the once-powerful Gulf Cartel. The city of 500,000 has been dealing with plagues of crime and violence since 2006, as splinter groups within the cartel broke away and fought for power and control of the vast drug trafficking empire.
The State Department has issued a Level 4: Do Not Travel advisory for the Mexican state of Tamaulipas state because of rampant crime and kidnapping.
Anybody with information about the kidnapping can submit an anonymous tip by calling the FBI San Antonio Division at 210-225-6741 or at https://tips.fbi.gov.