(CNN) Four US citizens were attacked and kidnapped by armed men in northeastern Mexico on Friday in a case of mistaken identity, a US official with knowledge of the investigation told CNN.
The Americans are believed to have been mistakenly targeted and were not the intended victims, the official said. Investigators believe a Mexican cartel may have mistaken them for Haitian drug smugglers, the official said, adding that investigators did not know anything about the criminal history on the part of the Americans.
The Americans traveled to the border city of Matamoros for medical procedures, the official said, citing receipts found in the vehicle.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador offered a similar explanation.
“The information we have is that they crossed the border to buy drugs in Mexico, there was a confrontation between the groups and they were detained,” said the president. “The whole government is working on it.”
The incident highlights the ongoing violence in some Mexican cities, which have been ravaged by organized crime at least since the Mexican Drug War began in 2006, as well as the growing business of so-called “medical tourism.”
The missing Americans, who have not been identified, drove to Matamoros on Friday in a white minivan with North Carolina plates, the FBI in San Antonio said. There, they were shot by unknown gunmen and “placed in a car and driven from the scene by the armed men,” the FBI said.
An innocent Mexican citizen was killed in the incident, said US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar.
“We have no higher priority than the safety of our citizens,” said Salazar. “This is the most fundamental role of the US government. Officials from various US law enforcement agencies are working with Mexican authorities at all levels of government to achieve the safe return of our countryman.”
The FBI is asking for the public’s help in finding them and identifying those responsible. The agency announced a reward of $50,000 for their return and arrest of those involved. The FBI said it was working with other federal partners and Mexican law enforcement agencies to investigate the kidnapping.
CNN has reached out to the FBI, the government of Tamaulipas, the Tamaulipas Secretary of Public Security’s office and the Mexican Attorney General’s Office for more information.
Photos show the car crashed before the incident
Two vehicles have come to rest in Matamoros, Mexico, at a scene that a US official says is connected to the missing Americans.
Photos obtained by CNN show that the car believed to be driven by the Americans collided with another car before they were taken at gunpoint from the scene.
The FBI would not confirm the authenticity of the images, but CNN confirmed the authenticity of the photos and video with a US official with knowledge of the investigation. CNN also geolocates the images.
The photos show a woman watching and then sitting next to three motionless people lying on the ground outside a white minivan. Open all the doors of the van. It is unclear if the four people in the photos are US citizens.
The woman appears to have been loaded into the bed of a white pickup truck, photos show. Several motionless people can be seen lying on the street next to the pickup truck, photos show.
A photo showed an ambulance had arrived, but it was unclear if medical attention was provided.
Matamoros, a city of over 500,000 people in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, is located across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas. The US State Department has issued a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for US citizens considering going to Tamaulipas, citing crime and kidnapping.
“Criminal groups target public and private passenger buses, as well as private cars traveling in Tamaulipas, often picking up passengers and demanding ransom payments,” the State Department advisory said. .
On the same day of the alleged kidnapping, for example, the police issued a warning to parents whose children cannot return to school due to two shootings in the city.
Matamoros is also the site of a large tent camp of migrants – mostly Venezuelans and Haitians – hoping to cross into the US to seek asylum.
In addition, Mexico is a popular destination for “medical tourism,” the term for travel to another country for medical care, usually for lower costs or for an unapproved procedure.
CNN’s Eric Levenson contributed to this report.
