Warning: Americans at risk of kidnapping in Reynosa

EL PASO, Texas ( Border Report ) – The State Department has issued an advisory for Americans to avoid travel to the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas due to crime and kidnapping.

The Level 4 advisory was prompted by continuous reports of organized abductions for ransom in buses departing from Reynosa.

“These kidnappings have occurred predominantly in the evenings on Omnibus buses departing from the main Reynosa bus terminal,” the U.S. Embassy in Mexico said in a statement issued Thursday. “Kidnappers have specifically targeted passengers with connections to the United States, including U.S. citizens and residents.”

Victims have reported that their documents and belongings are stolen, bank accounts emptied, and their families forced to pay ransoms of thousands of dollars, according to the embassy.

Violent bus robberies have been reported in Reynosa since last December. Local news reports described how vehicles cut off buses leaving the Central Bus Station, fired shots in the air to terrorize passengers, and proceeded to take their valuables.

Other robberies have been reported on the Reynosa-San Fernando Highway. The latter community was once a stronghold for the old Zetas drug cartel and the site of a migrant massacre in 2010.

The State Department is urging U.S. citizens:

• Avoid travel to, in, or through Tamaulipas.
• If you intend to travel anyway, notify family members of your plans and remain in contact with them.
• Always be aware of your surroundings.
• Call the FBI McAllen Field Office at 1 (956) 984-6300 if you have been a victim or if a relative of yours has been kidnapped in Reynosa.

Other resources in Mexico include the U.S. Embassy at 1 (844) 528-6611 if you’re back in the United States or (011-52) 55-8526-2561 from inside Mexico.

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