Authorities rescue Río Bravo mayor in Coahuila a day after armed highway abduction

The mayor of the northern border municipality of Río Bravo, Tamaulipas, was found safe and sound in the state of Coahuila on Sunday, one day after armed men allegedly stole his vehicle and abducted him on a highway that links the states of Zacatecas and San Luis Potosí.

Miguel Ángel Almaraz Maldonado, mayor of Río Bravo since 2024, was “rescued” at a state police checkpoint near Coahuila’s border with Zacatecas, according to the government of Coahuila.

*BAJO RESGUARDO DE AUTORIDADES DE COAHUILA, ALCALDE DE RÍO BRAVO.*

• Fue rescatado en un filtro de la Policía Estatal en los límites con Zacatecas.

Saltillo, Coahuila de Zaragoza; 8 de noviembre de 2026.— El Gobierno del Estado de Coahuila y la Fiscalía General del Estado https://t.co/nRyonPUGH0

— Gobierno de Coahuila (@GobDeCoahuila) November 8, 2026

Almaraz told reporters that he escaped from his captors after being held in a field for an unspecified period of time.

“[I was held] in a field but suddenly they left,” he said, referring to his captors.

“We jumped the fence, ran an hour without stopping and then wandered the whole night, 80 kilometers, until we arrived here,” Almaraz said, referring to the police checkpoint in Coahuila.

While he spoke in the first-person plural, the mayor didn’t say who was with him during his escape, according to the newspaper El Universal. At some stage, the mayor and an unidentified companion boarded a bus that took them to the police checkpoint in Coahuila.

Almaraz described his ordeal as a “bad experience” and said he suffered a “terrible fright.”

However, he said he felt “well,” telling reporters that he wasn’t beaten and didn’t sustain any injuries.

Almaraz didn’t specify the location of the field where he said he was held, and didn’t provide detailed information about the men who allegedly kidnapped him.

Federal Security Minister Omar García Harfuch reported that Almaraz had been located just before noon on Sunday.

“He was located by the Security Cabinet of the government of Mexico in coordination with the authorities of the governments of Zacatecas, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí and Tamaulipas,” he wrote on X.

García Harfuch noted that Almaraz had been missing, but didn’t make any reference to the mayor’s alleged kidnapping.

The abduction 

Almaraz, a National Action Party (PAN) mayor, was traveling to Real de Catorce, a pueblo mágico (magical town) in San Luis Potosí, when armed men allegedly intercepted his vehicle on the highway between San Tirbucio, a small town in Zacatecas, and Vanegas, a town in San Luis Potosí. The mayor was traveling with at least one colleague and members of his family when his car was allegedly intercepted on Saturday night. Alleged criminals hijacked other vehicles near the border between San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas on Saturday, according to the Zacatecas Attorney General’s Office.

According to the Tamaulipas Attorney General’s Office, Almaraz and his travel companions were abducted. However, the alleged kidnappers later released their victims, with the exception of the mayor. Those released were left on the side of the highway and subsequently sought assistance from authorities in the town of Cedral, San Luis Potosí, according to state authorities, who cited the testimony of an unidentified victim.

The motive for the alleged abduction of the mayor was unclear.

With reports from El Universal, El Financiero, La Jornada and El País