Image: A car of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents is seen next to a truck in Ojo Caliente
Stringer/mexico  /  Reuters
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement car, its rear window damaged by bullet impacts, is seen next to a Mexican federal police truck in Ojo Caliente, near San Luis Potosi, Tuesday, Feb. 15, following a shooting on a highway north of Mexico City.
NBC News and news services
updated 2/16/2011 12:01:04 AM ET 2011-02-16T05:01:04



Story: Mexico risks losing large areas to drug cartels

The dead man was identified as Special Agent Jaime J. Zapata, who joined ICE in 2006.

"I'm deeply saddened by the news that earlier today, two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agents assigned to the ICE Attache office in Mexico City were shot in the line of duty while driving between Mexico City and Monterrey by unknown assailants," she said.
U.S. and Mexican officials said they were working closely together to investigate the shooting and find those responsible. They did not give a motive for the attack.

    1. Castaway's parents thought they would never see him again


    2. Scotland legalizes same-sex marriage
    3. Weapons deal strengthened Assad: US intel chief
    4. Outcry over the fate of Sochi's stray dogs
    5. Olympic construction leaves Sochi residents in the cold




  1. Only on
    1. OWN via Getty Images
      From belief to betrayal: How America fell for Armstrong
    2. pool via Reuters file
      US to Syria neighbors: Be ready to act on WMDs
    3. China: One-child policy is here to stay
    4. NRA: Practice Range
      New 'Practice Range' shooter game says it’s from NRA
    5. 'Gifted' priest indicted in crystal meth case
    6. AFP - Getty Images
      China's state media admits to air pollution crisis
    7. AFP - Getty Images
      French to send 1,000 more troops to Mali


Police said one person was killed and another was flown to a Mexico City hospital, though they couldn't confirm the victims were the ICE agents.


Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. Arturo Sarukhan spoke with ICE chief John Morton to express Mexico's condolences, according to a spokesman.


Though Mexico is seeing record rates of violence from warring drug cartels and a crackdown on organized crime, it is rare for U.S. officials to be attacked. The U.S. government, however, has become increasingly concerned about the safety of its employees in Mexico amid the escalating violence.

Story: 18 killed cartel-plagued northern Mexican town

In March, a U.S. employee of a consulate, her husband and a Mexican tied to the American consulate were killed when drug gang members fired on their cars as they left a children's party in Ciudad Juarez, the city across from El Paso, Texas.



In a famous case, in 1985 U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena Salazar was tortured and killed in Mexico. Mexican trafficker Rafael Caro Quintero is serving a 40-year prison term for Camarena's slaying.

ICE, the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the second largest investigative agency in the federal government, enforced immigration laws and is primarily responsible for arresting, detaining and deporting people who are in the U.S. illegally. It also investigates drug cases in the U.S. and Mexico and other types of trafficking.

It was created in 2003 through a merger of the investigative and interior enforcement elements of the U.S. Customs Service and the Immigration and Naturalization Service and has more than 20,000 employees in offices in all 50 states and 47 foreign countries.


The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

Video: Juarez:  A city at war


Discussion comments


Most active discussions

  1. votes comments
  2. votes comments
  3. votes comments
  4. votes comments