Texas warns of travel to Mexican border town for the Fourth

[steven johnson]

Mexican kidnappings are nothing to sniff at.

Texas authorities are urging residents not to cross into the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo during the Fourth of July weekend because of intelligence that a Mexican drug cartel plans to target U.S. citizens.

The violent Zetas drug cartel, which operates in Nuevo Laredo, will be targeting crimes at Americans who cross the border into the city this weekend, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Webb County Sheriff's Office said Saturday.

"According to the information we have received, the Zetas are planning a possible surge in criminal activity, such as robberies, extortions, car-jackings and vehicle theft, specifically against U.S. citizens," DPS Director Steven McCraw said in a statement. "We urge U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Nuevo Laredo this weekend if it can be avoided."

Nuevo Laredo is across the border from Laredo, Texas, a city which bills itself as the "Gateway to Mexico." Four international bridges link Texas and Mexico at Laredo. An average of 11,000 trucks cross the border daily on those bridges.




Texas warns of travel to Mexican border town for the Fourth

[Taverner]

1. This is dumb - why would Zetas target potential customers?

Someone is doing reporting out of an armchair here...