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McALLEN — U.S. federal authorities continue to question a man who was kidnapped from a local coffee shop and held for ransom in Mexico for nearly a week. Raul Alvarado’s abductors allegedly demanded a ransom of $30,000 and two luxury vehicles. But it remains unclear whether any payments were made before Mexican police discovered him bound and beaten in a Reynosa stash house Friday. Alvarado, 36, of McAllen, told Mexican officials that he had intended to meet a business contact from Reynosa at the Starbucks Coffee near the intersection of Expressway 83 and South 10th Street on Nov. 23, when...

REYNOSA — A clash between the Mexican army and about 60 assailants turned some this city’s streets into a battle zone for about an hour early Tuesday morning. The group fired shots at soldiers patrolling the Reynosa-Matamoros highway near Motel Dalí about 1:20 a.m., the Mexican Defense Ministry said in a news release issued Wednesday evening. The attackers rode inside about 20 newer-model trucks as they fired guns and hurled grenades at the military convoy. No injuries were reported by neighbors and passersby, though one soldier suffered a gunshot wound to his leg. It remains unknown whether any of the...

Calm has returned to a Reynosa neighborhood following an hour-long battle between soldiers and criminals using high-powered weapons and explosives. Mexican media outlets reported that the hour-long battle happened in the Colonia El Maestro on the city’s eastside around 1:15 a.m. Tuesday. The El Milenio newspaper reported that at least 20 explosions rocked the normally peaceful neighborhood along the highway to Rio Bravo. Mexican officials told El Milenio that the shootout started during a chase that began on the opposite side of the city on the highway to Monterrey. The newspaper reported that hundreds of spent bullet casings were left...

Several families were trapped inside a fast food restaurant during a weekend shootout between Mexican soldiers and alleged criminals. The 40-minute standoff happened near a Carl's Jr. restaurant along the highway to Monterrey. Families ducked for cover as bullets penetrated the restaurant's glass and hit parts of the playground. A white SUV from the suspects was seized at the scene. Action 4 News has posted RAW VIDEO taken during and after the shootout. Victor Castillo will have full report during Action 4 News at 6 p.m.

REYNOSA — Four men were killed during a confrontation between the Mexican military and a convoy of men armed with grenades and bazookas, according to Mexican media reports. The four killed apparently fought the military with grenades and bazookas, according to the Reforma news agency. Several people, including three federal police officers and a bystander, were reportedly injured. The standoff occurred about 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the intersection of Aldama and Luis Echeverría, about four blocks south of the Rio Grande and west of Reynosa's downtown square, according to the Reforma report. The standoff occurred near the city's infamous Zona...

REYNOSA, Mexico - New details on a shooting in Reynosa we first told you about. The shooting happened at the Aquiles Serdan colonia in Reynosa. CHANNEL 5 NEWS has learned that shots rang out between a clash of civilians and the military. Main areas of the city were blocked off and bridges heading into the U.S. were blocked with mini buses completely paralyzing traffic. Reports say that 4 suspects were arrested in connection to the shooting, but during the arrests, a second truck arrived, opening fire on civilians and the military. Several grenades were also located in different streets around...

DONNA - Police are investigating a kidnapping purportedly carried out in Reynosa by members of Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's enforcement wing. A Donna woman reportedly told police she received several phone calls from suspects claiming to be members of Los Zetas a week after her son was kidnapped in Reynosa during a trip to Diaz Ordaz. The woman called police from her home on April 19 only after the men grew impatient and threatened to kidnap her other son if she did not pay a ransom soon for the victim's release, police records show. The woman told police the...

REYNOSA — Mexican federal police arrested a suspected member of Los Zetas accused of weapons smuggling and illegally monitoring telephone conversations among government officials. Rolando "El Roli" de los Santos Guerra, 31, was wanted by federal authorities on organized crime and weapons smuggling charges. Mexican federal police and troops captured de los Santos on Monday near El Naranjito colonia in Reynosa, according to a statement from the Mexican secretary of public security. De los Santos is accused of performing wire taps at hotels, hospitals and government agencies for Los Zetas, a gang of armed enforcers believed to have branched off...

REYNOSA - A purported ringleader of Zeta operations here was arrested Saturday after he led Mexican federal police on a chase through the streets in a stolen pickup with Texas plates. Sergio "El Concord" Peña Mendoza, 39, is suspected of leading local operations of the Zetas, the Gulf Cartel's enforcement wing, Mexican police reported late Saturday. He reportedly climbed to the level of Jaime "El Hummer" Gonzalez Duran, a founding member of the gang who was arrested in Reynosa in November. Intelligence reports led federal police to Peña while he was in a stolen pickup on 10th Street in Reynosa,...

Weapons Seized After Reynosa Shootout And Reports Of Civilians Killed During Shootout (Video) REYNOSA, Mexico - There are new details on a shootout between suspected cartel members and federal police in Reynosa. Mexican officials seized weapons including automatic assault rifles, grenades, cop killer bullets, and radio equipment late Saturday night after the shootout. Authorities say federal police officers tried to stop the driver of a gray Tahoe SUV with Texas plates for inspection, but someone inside fired shots. Officers chased the truck. They're confirming two people were arrested, a 19- and 20-year-old. There are conflicting reports this morning on possible...

As protests and gunfire erupted last week across Reynosa, Hidalgo County authorities stood prepared at the international bridges, ready for any possibility. With mobile command units connected to statewide intelligence centers and dozens of officers armed to confront potential threats, law enforcement officials responded to Tuesday's violence like they never have before. The incident prompted state officials to enact for the first time a border-wide emergency plan developed to address threats from Mexico's ongoing war against its entrenched drug cartels. Dubbed the "Operation Border Star Contingency Plan," Gov. Rick Perry's office drafted the policy with local, state and federal law...

Reports say 20 injured and that five who died were soldiers MEXICO CITY — Running gun battles between army troops and suspected gangsters killed as many as 10 people today in the border city of Reynosa. Another 20 people were reported injured in the firefights, which involved automatic weapons and grenades, according to local press reports. El Universal newspaper in Mexico City reported that at least five soldiers were killed There were no immediate official figures on the number of dead and wounded. An industrial hub that's home to many U.S.-owned factories, Reynosa is considered the territory of the Gulf...

Mexican military officials said they rescued 189 undocumented immigrants from a Reynosa stash house during a Sunday night raid. An anonymous tip reportedly led authorities to a home off Calles Doctor Plata and Rio Purificacion in the Colonia Doctores. Mexico's El Universal newspaper reported that officials found 157 men and 32 women inside the house around 11 p.m. Sunday. The newspaper said the immigrants were all from Brazil and Central America. Many of the immigrants told investigators reported that had paid as much of $1,500 to be smuggled into the United States. El Universal reported that it took some of...

The purported head of Zeta operations in Reynosa was formally charged with organized crime and firearms violations, Mexico's attorney general's office said Monday. A federal judge in Mexico City ordered that Jaime "El Hummer" González Durán remain in custody pending trial. Federal authorities arrested González during a series of Nov. 7 raids in Reynosa and later fought off Cartel gunmen who chased them to the city's airport as they attempted to fly him out of the city. The raids also uncovered the largest cache of illegal weapons ever found in Mexico. Investigators believe the weapons belonged to González's organization, which...

Military removed officers' guns last week REYNOSA, Mexico - City officials in Reynosa say their police officers need their guns back. The Mexican military took the officers' guns away last week. Mexican officials say one of their own was shot when he was trying to stop an armed robber. The officer pulled out a toy gun, since he did not have a real one. The suspect did not give in, and instead he allegedly shot the officer several times. Reynosa officials say this proves unarmed police are in danger.

MEXICO CITY — In a seeming one-two punch against one of Mexico's fiercest criminal syndicates, authorities announced Friday that they had seized one of the largest weapons caches in modern Mexican history and arrested a senior gang leader in a city bordering South Texas. The blows were struck in Reynosa, on the Rio Grande near McAllen, against the Zetas, gunmen linked to the Gulf Cartel, which operates throughout eastern and central Mexico. Army troops seized 400 pistols and rifles, 500,000 bullets, 165 grenades, several grenade launchers, six heavy machine guns and an anti-tank rocket launcher. Assistant Attorney General Marisela Morales...

Mexico - At least 18 prisoners died in a jail riot in Mexico near the U.S. border on Monday, some in a fire after a gun battle between rival gangs. The riot started in the early hours of Monday in Reynosa, a manufacturing city across the border from Texas where the powerful Gulf drug cartel is active, the local state attorney general's office said. "There was a shootout and then a fire. There are charred bodies among the dead," a spokesman at the attorney general's office said. Prison director Apolonio Villarreal told a news conference in Reynosa the death toll...

Five Koreans ― four men and one woman ― had been abducted by several unidentified kidnappers who had disguised themselves as police officers in a U.S.-Mexico border city on July 14, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Tuesday. The official, asking not to be identified, said the abductors have demanded $30,000 in ransom, but declined to give details about the whereabouts of the South Korean nationals and their condition. "As far as I know, the kidnappers have contacted one of the families of the hostages and asked if they were willing to meet their demands...

REYNOSA -- Two Rio Grande Valley residents remained in a Reynosa jail Wednesday, accused of kidnapping a local businessman, Mexican authorities said. Police arrested the two Valley residents along with a Reynosa resident Tuesday after the trio retrieved a $50,000 ransom for the man, whom police suspect they kidnapped July 9 in Reynosa. The ransom was left at a mall on the city's south side. Authorities declined to identify the victim but said he was a Reynosa resident. Once in police custody, the three suspects led investigators to the hostage, who appeared badly beaten and malnourished, said Ernesto Eduardo Saenz...

Mexican authorities arrested two Rio Grande Valley residents for their alleged involvement in a kidnapping ring that terrorized the border city of Reynosa. Tamaulipas State Police told Action 4 News that three suspects were arrested in a kidnapping case on Tuesday evening. Police recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars, jewelry and other valuables. The group was allegedly arrested following an investigation into the July 9 kidnapping of a Reynosa businessman. The suspects were identified as: Agustín Edmundo Torres Flores (San Juan, Texas) Cantalicia Cantú (McAllen, Texas) Francisca Dianey Martínez Hernández (Reynosa, Tamaulipas) Action 4 News reporter Victor Castillo will have...

REYNOSA - The family of a Pharr man brutally murdered last week could be linked to his death, Mexican authorities said Monday. Ramiro Torres Hernández, 25, was with his wife and cousin when he was kidnapped by two men, according to authorities. But neither the wife or cousin reported the kidnapping when it occured after midnight Wednesday, they said. The wife's and cousin's names were not released. A family member told investigators Torres had gotten off his vehicle at a Super 7 in the Luis Donaldo Colosio neighborhood of Reynosa when he was kidnapped, homicide unit chief Fernando Miranda Guerrero...

McALLEN - A local resident was found wrapped, tortured and shot execution-style in Reynosa on Friday, according to a Mexican news report released Sunday. Ramiro Torres Hernández, 24, - a manager of a Burger King in McAllen - was found inside an abandoned vehicle's trunk in a rural field heading toward Rio Bravo in Ejido El Porvenir, El Universal wire service reported. Tamaulipas state police identified Torres as a Pharr resident. His visibly tortured body was wrapped in a blanket inside the trunk of a white 2000 Buick sporting Texas license plates, El Universal reported. He had been shot in...

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican federal official says the police chief of the border city of Reynosa has been arrested for allegedly protecting members of the Gulf drug cartel. The official says Chief Juan Muniz will be flown to Mexico City on Thursday to be questioned by organized crime investigators. Muniz has been arrested by federal agents in Reynosa, across from McAllen, Texas, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the case. Reynosa city officials have issued a news release saying Muniz was arrested Thursday afternoon. Muniz could not be...

REYNOSA - Mexican military have surrounded the Reynosa Municipal Police Station, searching officers, vehicles and weapons. Witnesses say the military surrounded the police station building around 7 a.m. today. More than 300 police officers across the city are being brought in to be searched, along with personal cars and police-issued weapons. Officers at the city's precincts across the city are also being searched. The military is undertaking similar operations today in Nuevo Laredo, Rio Bravo and Matamoros, according to press reports from Monterrey and Mexico City. Military vehicles and personnel are blocking access to the station. The raids come after...

Incident is second in the region in as many days REYNOSA — Suspected drug cartels battled the Mexican army and federal police here Tuesday in the second such incident in this region in as many days. The firefight erupted about 6:30 p.m. and left two police dead and several injured, witnesses said. Mexican federal police and soldiers battled the suspected cartels near the intersection of Hidalgo Boulevard and Praxedis Balboa, better known as Linea del Gas, in the center of downtown Reynosa. There were reports that gunmen shot at ambulances that were trying to carry injured soldiers away from the...

McALLEN — The accused second-in-command of the Gulf Cartel’s operations in Reynosa fled to the United States because he feared for his life, his attorney said Wednesday. Carlos Landín-Martinez, who was arrested while grocery shopping at a McAllen H-E-B on Saturday, appeared in federal court Thursday for a detention hearing on charges of conspiracy to transport a controlled substance. But his attorney, Oscar Alvarez, characterized the man as an honorable police officer who feared retribution from drug traffickers. Landín-Martinez previously served as a commander in the Tamaulipas state police force but has also been linked to Los Zetas, a violent...

McALLEN — A man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a Reynosa police officer may have crossed into the United States dressed as a clown, Mexican state police said Thursday. Tamaulipas investigators alerted U.S. authorities Wednesday that the suspect may have crossed the Rio Grande illegally while wearing a costume as a disguise. On Monday, accomplices sneaked the man through the Reynosa in a garbage cart to help him get out of town, said Fernando Miranda Guerrero, chief of homicide investigations for the state police. “We went to the river and searched along it with the help of...

Mayor blames Tamaulipas governor, says incident intended to destabilize Reynosa REYNOSA — The attorney general of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas denied claims that an arrest warrant was issued for Reynosa’s mayor after reports that more than a dozen armed men tried to arrest the mayor and at least three city workers outside City Hall on Friday. “I want to make clear that there are no arrest warrants against the mayor of Reynosa,” said Tamaulipas Attorney General Aníbal Pérez Vargas in a statement released late Friday. He did confirm that one city worker was arrested at his home in connection...

REYNOSA — A suspected car thief ran over a Mexican customs agent while trying to flee into the country through the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge, authorities said Monday. Agents attempted to stop an unidentified man crossing from the U.S. side of the bridge shortly before 8 p.m., after noticing the Dodge pickup he was driving had sustained severe damage, Tamaulipas state police said. But the driver accelerated, hitting a customs agent and plowing into a Ford Mustang that, in turn, hit a Grand Marquis with border plates. Witnesses reported hearing gunshots, but authorities could not confirm that shots had been fired...

LAREDO — Leads seemed few in the days after singer Valentin Elizalde was gunned down in Reynosa, Mexico, last weekend — no arrests made, no suspects named. But in cyberspace, clues were plentiful. Nicknamed "The Golden Rooster," Elizalde, 27, was well known in Northern Mexico for his brass-based traditional "banda" music and for his lyrics, some of which glorified the drug trade. Three months before his death, someone posted a photo slideshow on the popular video-sharing Website YouTube.com depicting a succession of bullet-riddled bodies, with Elizalde's song "A Mis Enemigos" — To My Enemies — as the soundtrack. The gory...

Traffickers peddle drugs intended for U.S. markets REYNOSA - Patients at a south Reynosa drug rehab center sometimes walk up onto the roof to look out over the city before their evening meeting. On clear evenings, they can see the bright lights of the city center, the maquilas where many of them used to work and the Rio Grande winding its way to the east. Jose Alfredo, a thin, 36-year-old father of two struggling with a crack addiction, is one of those patients. He can almost see his home neighborhood on the southern banks of the river. There, only 100...

REYNOSA, Mexico — A popular regional entertainer, whose lyrics about love and drug trafficking were backed by blaring horns, was killed in gangland style with two colleagues here Saturday, about a 100 yards from the stage he had just performed on at an annual fair. Unknown assailants unleashed a barrage of gunfire into two sides of the 2007 black Suburban the victims were leaving in around 3 a.m., causing passers-by to run for cover in this large city across the border from McAllen, police said. Valentin Elizalde, a "banda" singer in his mid-20s from the western state of Sinaloa, his...

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Presidential runner-up Andrés Manuel López Obrador's call for civil disobedience reached the border Friday in a string of protests at international bridges in Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa and here. In Matamoros, a group of about 100 blocked a city street that leads to the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates and into Brownsville. "We're here because we are sure that López Obrador won," Rommel Delgado, a 23-year-old teacher, said over the horns of miffed truckers and drivers. Civil unrest here and in other parts of the country, most notably Mexico City, is rooted in the historically close results...

REYNOSA — Flor Estrada had no complaints about President Bush’s “five-point” immigration plan, which he touted just across the river Thursday at Anzalduas County Park in Mission. “I fully support him,” she said in Spanish, as the blaring car horns and scorching heat of this teeming Mexican border city flared a few feet outside the door of her liquor store. For the most part, though, Reynosa residents seemed unimpressed by the U.S. president’s visit and seemed more interested in the health woes of the Cuban president. Bush’s visit “doesn’t affect us,” said Transit Police Second Commander Israel Marín Terano, as...

Mexican authorities haven't ruled out kidnapping McALLEN - The last time anyone saw attorney Mario Perera Riveroll was two weeks ago outside a Reynosa courthouse, colleagues said. The 43-year-old lawyer has been missing since he left the Junta de Consilacion y Arbitraje, Reynosa's labor court, at about 11 a.m. June 27. Perera, a partner for more than a year at Matulewicz & Perera in McAllen, told colleagues he would be back for a 1:30 p.m. hearing. But that night, one of the firm's lawyers notified state police in Reynosa that he was missing. Perera had not shown up at the...

REYNOSA - Mexican police are scrambling to solve three unrelated murders in three days that include a decapitated woman and two gunmen tied to drug traffickers who may have fled to the United States. Police found the latest victim, a decapitated woman, early Thursday morning. The body was lying in the middle of Calle Rio Sabinas, near the corner of the road to Rivareña, said Leonel Lozano Gutierrez, head of the Tamaulipas police in Reynosa. A truck ran over what appeared to be a pile of trash at 1 a.m., Gutierrez said. It was the woman's body covered in a...

REYNOSA, Mexico — Authorities here say they have identified a ring of extortion artists whose ranks include several city police officers. But lacking a formal complaint from a victim, prosecution may be difficult. Municipal Officer Raul Osuna, a former police commander, became the target of a state police investigation after an Oct. 24 shootout killed two and seriously injured a third. The resulting evidence has implicated at least three police officers in an extortion and kidnapping operation that also involved people claiming to be journalists, with Osuna the ringleader, said Rene Gerardo Ruiz, an investigator for Tamaulipas state. It was...

HIDALGO — A bomb threat shut down the bridges to and from Reynosa in both Hidalgo and Pharr for more than an hour Friday night. "We don’t know if (the threat came from) the bridge in Texas or Reynosa; we are reviewing both," said Carlos Hernández Gallardo of the Reynosa fire and rescue team. Shortly after 8:30 p.m., when the anonymous phone threat was made to both bridges, port officials decided to close the bridges and the surrounding area as a precaution, said Rick Pauza, a Laredo-based spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Officials at the bridge said they...

REYNOSA, MEXICO — A week after a police shootout resulted in the deaths of three seemingly innocent men and one officer, the victims' relatives and human rights activists continue to press the government for answers: Was the incident a mistake or an atrocious attack by federal police? Mexican authorities first reported the May 22 incident as a high-speed chase between federal police and drug dealers they said shot at the officers. However, government documents leaked to El Mañana newspaper in Reynosa showed the victims had tested negative for gunpowder residue, igniting anger and confusion in this border city. Family members...

The Mexican Attorney General's office thinks the "Zetas" gang (ex-army commandos and the muscle of the Gulf Drug Cartel) may have come into possession of the SA-7 Grail missile.

REYNOSA — Authorities from the proxy’s office in Tamaulipas (PME) continued looking for those responsible for an attack against a female resident of Reynosa, who had her hands severed after being beaten. The 40-year-old victim, Maria Amalia Salazar Garcia, is originally from Monterrey, N.L., Mexico. She was abandoned on the edges of the Rhode canal, on the outskirts of the Jacinto Lopez colonia. A man walking in the area found Salazar Garcia semi-nude, without hands and bathed in blood because of the brutal aggression. Paramedics took Maria Amalia to the Hospital General. As of Tuesday afternoon, she was still in...

The American Consulate office in Matamoros, Mexico (across the border from Brownsville, Texas) has issued a new travel advisory to Americans travelling to the Mexican Border State of Tamaulipas. It urges travellers to use caution as 30 drug-related murders in the first 20 days of 2005, including the torture and murder of six federal prison workers Thursday.

REYNOSA — While Tamaulipas’ attorney general continues to investigate recent murders, Reynosa’s mayor is defending his city’s image and new police department. "We prevent the delinquencies," said Reynosa’s mayor, Lic. Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca, who has been in office for about two weeks. "We prevent the crime, but we do not investigate. The state needs to do its job." During the administration’s initial weeks, René Izaguirre — whom the mayor said was hired as a consultant for the Reynosa police — was reported missing. His body was then found shot several times in the face Jan. 3 along...

Travel warning still in effect for border McALLEN — The murder of the new Reynosa police chief shouldn’t hurt or slow down tourism in the city, Mexican officials said Tuesday. Late Monday, a passerby discovered the contorted body of René Izaguirre along the highway to Monterrey. Izaguirre’s head and face were shot seven times. Izaguirre was set to take over as the deputy director for public safety in Reynosa for the new city administration under the helm of its new mayor, Lic. Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca. Shortly after, he was reported missing. Despite the crime, vice-consul at the...

REYNOSA — The investigation continues in the case of René Izaguirre, who “disappeared” before he took office as the undersecretary for public safety in Reynosa, city hall officials said Monday. Izaguirre, who allegedly had “disappeared,” or was kidnapped, on or about Thursday, was part of Reynosa’s new city administration. The State Attorney’s office in Ciudad Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas, is handling the case, said Reynosa’s new mayor Lic. Francisco Javier Garcia Cabeza de Vaca. “(Izaguirre) was a member of our team, our group, but I was not in office,” Cabeza de Vaca said. “When someone disappears, the state takes...

McALLEN — The U.S. Consulate in Matamoros issued a warning this week that Reynosa has become dangerous for American citizens, but Reynosa officials countered that their city is safe for any visitors, whether foreign or domestic. The warning came in response to months of complaints by U.S. citizens of assaults, robberies, abductions and forced multiple withdrawals from ATM machines — known popularly in Mexico as the Secuestro Express or Robo Express — reportedly involving Reynosa police officers. "In the last six months, we have heard about problems, not in Matamoros, not in Ciudad Victoria, but in Reynosa, because of the...

McALLEN — Mexican police found a 12-year-old Indiana girl who had been missing for almost six days on Saturday afternoon in Reynosa. Reynosa Municipal Police found Kayla Kime and her suspected abductor, Mexican national Eliseo Nuñez, in a market area near downtown Reynosa. U.S. authorities had provided Mexican authorities with information that led police officers to the green Ford Windstar driven by Eliseo Nuñez, a Mexican national. Initial information provided to the FBI by Mexican authorities indicated that Nuñez was in possession of a weapon during his capture. He was apprehended without incident and Kayla was brought back to United...