FBI: Four people traveling in van with NC plates kidnapped in Mexico

Four U.S. citizens have been kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said.

The four had entered Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas, on Friday and were traveling in a white minivan with North Carolina license plates.

The FBI San Antonio Division office said in a statement that the vehicle came under fire shortly after it entered Mexico and all four Americans were placed in a vehicle and taken from the scene by armed men.

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for the return of the victims and the arrest of those who committed the crime.

Matamoros is home to warring factions of the Gulf drug cartel and shootouts there on Friday were so bad that the U.S. Consulate issued an alert about the danger and local authorities warned people to shelter in place.

  Four U.S. citizens have been kidnapped after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in the northern Mexico border city of Matamoros, the FBI said.