MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- An FBI chief says kidnappings in the Texas border community of McAllen nearly quadrupled last fiscal year compared to 2008.
John Johnson of the FBI's McAllen office says most of the kidnappings were connected to the drug trade.
Johnson says 42 people were kidnapped in the McAllen area between October 2008 and September 2009 compared with 11 the year before.
Johnson spoke Thursday at a legislative hearing evaluating border security in Texas. The meeting was just seven miles from the Mexico border.
Nearly nine hours of testimony and debate failed to yield consensus on what constitutes spillover drug-trafficking violence along the Texas-Mexico border.
But law enforcement agencies agreed on one thing: They need more resources.
Authorities told lawmakers that murders and kidnappings linked to the drug trade have been reported in several border communities in Texas.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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