A bus company operating in South Texas is named in a million-dollar lawsuit over their alleged negligence during a wave of cartel kidnappings in Mexico. The lawsuit alleges the company did not inform customers of the danger and did not take any steps to protect them amid a wave of cartel kidnappings targeting travelers moving between South Texas and Mexico.
The lawsuit, which was filed this week in the 430th Texas State District Court, claims that the bus companies Autobuses Ejecutivos LLC, Bus Investors LLC, and Dos Naciones Inc. operated a bus service as Omex VIP, Omnibus, and Omnibus Express and would provide services from McAllen, Texas, into various Mexican cities. The buses would cross through international ports of entry to and from Mexico as part of their service. For years, many saw the service as a safer and more cost-effective move for traveling through Mexico.
However, the lawsuit claims that on May 29, one of the buses was stopped by gunmen, and at least two passengers were taken at gunpoint.
The lawsuit alleges that when the bus companies sold the tickets to the passengers, they were aware of a wave of bus kidnappings and did not warn travelers about it. The document alleges that the bus companies did not take any additional steps, such as using GPS trackers and adding cameras to their buses.
The lawsuit comes soon after the U.S. Department of State issued two separate travel warnings about cartel gunmen kidnapping bus passengers moving through the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. As Breitbart Texas reported at the time, gunmen had been targeting U.S. citizens and residents for ransom kidnappings, and consular officials claimed that families had to pay thousands for the release of their loved ones.
In response to the travel alert, the Tamaulipas government denied the information, claiming that the U.S. Department of State was relying on anecdotal evidence rather than statistics that showed the state constantly showed a downward trend in crime.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
