Kidnapped Border Patrol - U.S. federal authorities are investigating a claim that a Border Patrol officer in Texas has been kidnapped by the Mexican drug cartel.
Reports indicate that a Mexican man claiming to be a member of the drug cartel called a small Texas town police department on Thursday around 7.p.m.threatening to kill a U.S. Border Patrol Agent he has kidnapped.
According to local reports, the threat, which was made in Spanish, has gotten the attention of federal authorities. The FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and the La Joya Police Department are working together to authenticate the claim that an agent has been kidnapped.
Authorities say there have been no official reports of a missing Border Patrol agent out of its 3,100 agents working in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas.
Investigators have reached out to and have so far accounted for more 3,000 agents assigned to the Rio Grande Valley sector. However, only all on-duty officers have been accounted for, investigators are having a difficult time confirming the whereabouts of off-duty agents because of the holiday season.
"Until we rule it out, we treat it as a true kidnapping," said FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee.
The incident initially started on Thursday morning after the suspect called police in La Joya to report some illegal activities across the border.
"Someone called in and started out reporting some sort of activity, and the call then turned into threats against law enforcement, threats against the dispatcher, and ultimately threats against law enforcement in general," said Chris Cabrera, a representative with the National Border Patrol Council."He then claimed to have an agent that was kidnapped that he planned to kill, and he claimed to work for one of the cartels."
Authorities have not disclosed if the suspected kidnapper gave the name of the Border Patrol agent he has under his custody.
"We are closely monitoring development in the possible abduction of a Border Patrol Agent in the Rio Grande Valley. This incident is a reminder of how dangerous this job is. Everyday, our Border Patrol Agents put their lives on the line to protect our nation and our neighborhood from drug cartels, criminals and terrorists," a statement from the RGV Border Patrol Union read.
There are no records of a Border Patrol Agent being kidnapped by the drug cartels in the recent past. However, there have been many threats and several unsuccessful attempts.
