U.S. confirms murders of two Americans in northern Mexico

U.S. confirms murders of two Americans in northern Mexico

2011-04-06 04:54:28 GMT+7 (ICT)

BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO (BNO NEWS) -- The United States on Tuesday confirmed that two U.S. citizens were murdered on Monday morning in Tijuana, northern Mexico, El Universal newspaper reported.

Joseph Cook, spokesman for the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana, said that Kevin Romero and Sergio Salcido were American citizens as had worked at West Coast Beverage Maintenance for a year. He added that U.S. and Mexican authorities are cooperating in the case but did not give further details.

On Monday morning, Romero and Salcido were killed while waiting in line for crossing the border. An unidentified man approached their vehicle and opened fire several time at the two U.S. citizens.

Romero, 28, and Salcido, 25, were heading work in San Diego, California. According to the State's Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez one of the victims had a small package of narcotics in his belongings.

Preliminary reports indicate that the attacker shot at least five bullets at the victims' head, arms and chest. Matt Pelot, their employer, said that the victims recently moved to Mexico in order to live by the beach.

Last February, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were killed in Mexico's northern state of San Luis Potosi. Unidentified gunmen ambushed the agents while traveling in their U.S. government-issued vehicle on the of San Luis Potosi-Mexico City highway.

One of the agents, Jaime Zapata, 32, was killed during the attack, while the other, Victor Avila, suffered gunshot wounds. On March 30, the U.S. and Mexico announced rewards totaling $5.84 million for information that leads to the capture of the gunmen involved in the shootings.

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