Mexico rights group probes army killing near border

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's human rights commission is investigating a shooting in which troops on an anti-drug mission near the U.S. border killed a man and wounded an American, the organization said on Wednesday.

The commission said soldiers opened fire on the two men's car when they tried to skirt an army checkpoint last week in the border city of Reynosa, where troops patrol the streets as part of a crackdown on drug trafficking gangs.

One of the victims, Sergio Meza, died on the scene. His brother-in-law, Jose Antonio Barbosa, who said he was a U.S. citizen but lived in Reynosa, was shot in the shoulder and hospitalized.

Mexicans living near the U.S. border often have close ties to the United States, and many have dual citizenship.

Barbosa said he and Meza had been drinking beer, smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine before they went out for a ride in their car before dawn last Saturday, the rights commission said in a statement.

President Felipe Calderon has sent 25,000 soldiers and police to smuggling hot spots in the past year, putting thousands of people linked to the drug trade behind bars.

Reynosa, just south of McAllen, Texas, is considered a major smuggling route for drug traffickers and is dominated by the country's powerful Gulf cartel.

More than 2,500 people were killed in drug violence in Mexico last year and at least 320 people have died so far this year.

(Reporting by Jason Lange)