Tourists have been warned not to travel to several Mexican cities due to “increasingly frequent gun battles” and criminally manufactured IEDs in one region.
The United States travel advisory for the Tamaulipas region, bordering Texas and the Gulf of Mexico, has a level 4, “do not travel” warning due to violent crime and kidnapping.
Cities in the Tamaulipas region include Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, San Fernando – some popular beach destinations with spring breakers.
The US embassy in Mexico said in a security alert on 27 January: “The U.S. Consulate is aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours.”
Travellers in the area have been warned to stay on paved roads, not touch unknown objects, travel during daylight hours and notify friends and family of their safety.
The embassy added that criminal organisations are “increasingly” manufacturing IEDs in the region, with an official government vehicle destroyed in Rio Bravo, injuring one, on 23 January.
“Separately, the state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads,” it said.
US government employees may only travel within a limited radius around the US Consulates in Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros and have been ordered to “avoid all travel in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours” and to “avoid dirt roads throughout Tamaulipas”.
Generally, the travel advisory for Mexico is level 2 of the four-tier safety ranking system, with tourists reminded to “exercise increased caution” while visiting the country.
Last year, Miami-based cruise line Royal Caribbean pulled out of port calls to Manzanillo following a travel advisory not to go to the city.
The US State Department revised advice for popular cruise destinations in Mexico, including a level 4 “do not travel” warning for Manzanillo on Colima’s Pacific Coast due to crime and kidnapping.
State-specific advice for Colima says: “Violent crime and gang activity are widespread. Most homicides are targeted assassinations against members of criminal organizations. Shooting incidents between criminal groups have injured or killed bystanders.”
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