FBI warns of plot to kidnap, kill border agents
Brownsville Herald article
Jan. 28, 2005 — A plot to kidnap and kill two FBI agents on the Texas-Mexico border was announced Friday in a bulletin issued by the agency’s San Antonio office.
According to a copy of the FBI bulletin obtained by The Brownsville Herald, officials said they had received credible information that members of the Gulf Cartel plan to kidnap two agents, take them into Mexico and then murder them.
The cartel allegedly has 250 armed men posted near Matamoros, across from Brownsville.
According to the bulletin, several members of the group have valid visas and passports that would allow them to enter the United States quietly and legally.
The FBI requested that all law enforcement personnel keep a high degree of vigilance until further notice.
FBI spokesman Rene Salinas with the agency’s San Antonio regional office told The Herald the bulletin was issued at noon on Friday, but added that the suspected plot remains uncorroborated and under investigation.
“We’re trying to make sure it’s legit,†Salinas said.
Although the bulletin indicated that FBI agents are the intended target, Salinas said it was not clear whether the plot would ultimately be carried out against agents with other federal agencies or members of state or local law enforcement agencies.
Despite the advisory, Salinas said no federal agents have been removed from their assigned posts.
“When people sign up to be a law enforcement official, whether it’s federal, state or local, there’s always a certain amount of risks involved with the profession,†he said.
Salinas said the FBI advised all local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in Texas at noon Friday.
Brownsville police said they received the bulletin, but the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Gus Reyna said his agency did not.
Consul John Naland with the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros said his did not receive the bulletin, but there are no FBI or DEA agents assigned to his post.
The FBI bulletin comes two days after the U.S. State Department issued an alert for Americans to be cautious when traveling along the southern side of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The State Department alert was issued in response to a wave of recent drug-related violence in the border states of Mexico.
The FBI bulletin was issued the same day that Mexican authorities transferred drug boss Rafael Caro Quintero to maximum-security prison CEFERESO No. 3, west of Matamoros from Puente Grande, a maximum-security prison in Jalisco, according to Spanish-language wire service Notimex and the U.S. Department of Justice. Before Puente Grande, Caro was at another jail facility outside Mexico City called La Palma.
According to the DEA, Caro was imprisoned for drug trafficking and his involvement in the 1985 kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena.
Earlier this month, Caro’s younger brother Miguel Angel Caro Quintero was also transferred to CEFERESO No. 3 from La Palma, reportedly to break up alliances at La Palma.