Possible cartel plot to kidnap U.S. agents investigated in Texas

Reporting and context

U.S. federal authorities are investigating a possible plan by a Mexican cartel to kidnap U.S. border agents in western Texas, according to El Diario de Juárez. Security personnel remained on alert after employees of U.S. Customs and Border Protection told the Washington Examiner that authorities had reason to consider the threat credible.

NewsNation reported Tuesday that some CBP employees had recently been warned that a smuggler might bring people from Colombia and Venezuela into the United States to target agency personnel in the El Paso and Presidio areas. The report did not identify the alleged cartel or provide a public account of a completed operation. El Diario de Juárez reported that the information concerned a possible plan, not a confirmed kidnapping.

CBP confirmed that it conducts intelligence work on foreign individuals, groups and organizations considered threats to U.S. national security, but the agency did not comment specifically on the alleged plan. “CBP maintains proactive intelligence work on all foreign actors that represent a threat to national security,” the agency said, according to El Diario de Juárez. CBP also said information is checked with other authorities before its credibility is assessed and that it has procedures to mitigate threats and protect employees and facilities. The agency declined to disclose its security and response methods.