A group of suspected cartel gunmen hijacked a cargo truck in Northern Mexico, which carried visas intended for the U.S. Consulate offices in Monterrey and Guadalajara.
The hijacking took place on June 7. The stolen cargo included Visa crossing cards for Mexican citizens who had requested visas in Monterrey and Guadalajara, a prepared statement by the U.S. Consulate in Monterrey revealed.
“The Bureau of Consular Affairs placed electronic alerts on all the stolen cards which would keep them from being used at any port of entry,” the statement, in Spanish, explained. “The Interpol also has this information so they can add it to their databases for stolen or lost travel documents.”
The hijacking took place on June 7, the same day that Mexico was holding its federal elections and had deployed thousands of police officers and troops to the streets. As Breitbart Texas previously reported, U.S. Congressmen have expressed their concerns about the security conditions around the consular offices in Mexico.
In a letter sent to Secretary of State John Kerry, two leading congressmen asked not only what steps the U.S. is taking to safeguard its consular officials, but also if consular offices should remain open amid worsening cartel violence.
As Breitbart Texas previously reported, since February the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros have been ground zero for a raging cartel war as two factions of the Gulf Cartel fight for control of the region. The constant fighting has set off a series of fierce gun battles and gruesome executions.
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