A small line of vehicles waits to cross the Cordova Bridge of the Americas on the United States-Mexico border in 2020. On March 10, Texan officers suggested towards spring break journey to Mexico, citing the hazards of violent crime.

Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse/AFP by way of Get

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Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse/AFP by way of Get

A small line of vehicles waits to cross the Cordova Bridge of the Americas on the United States-Mexico border in 2020. On March 10, Texan officers suggested towards spring break journey to Mexico, citing the hazards of violent crime.

Paul Ratje/Agence France-Presse/AFP by way of Get

The Texas Department of Public Safety has urged residents to keep away from spring break journey to Mexico, warning that drug cartel violence and different crime pose a major security risk.

“We have a duty to inform the public about safety, travel risks and threats,” mentioned DPS Director Steven McCraw in a press release on Friday. “Based on the volatile nature of cartel activity and the violence we are seeing there; we are urging individuals to avoid travel to Mexico at this time.”

U.S. residents who resolve to journey to Mexico are inspired to register with an embassy or consulate earlier than they go, the Texas company mentioned.

The advisory follows the kidnapping of 4 Americans earlier this month within the Mexican metropolis of Matamoros. The Americans had been reportedly visiting for medical tourism after they had been caught within the crossfire between rival cartel teams and kidnapped. Two of them were returned to the U.S., and two had been discovered lifeless. A Mexican bystander was additionally killed.

One of the cartel teams in Matamoros apologized for the killings and handed over the boys they are saying are accountable to police.

Tamaulipas, the state the place Matamoros is positioned, is taken into account one of the vital violent locations in Mexico.

The State Department’s most recent travel advisory, from October 2022, lists Tamaulipas as one among six Mexican states underneath a “Level 4: Do Not Travel” advisory for crime and kidnapping. There are seven extra underneath “Level Three: Reconsider Travel.”

More than 500 Americans — and tens of hundreds of Mexicans — remain missing in Mexico.

However, widespread vacationer locations like Cancún, Cabo San Lucas and Mexico City have a a lot decrease advisory of “Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution.” For comparability, the State Department has issued that advisory stage for a lot of Western Europe, together with France and the United Kingdom.

“DPS understands many people do travel to Mexico without incident, but the serious risks cannot be ignored,” the Texas DPS assertion mentioned. The division urged vacationers to “carefully research any planned trips” and contemplate suspending or canceling upcoming journeys to Mexico.