During an operation in Mexico’s northeast, National Guard and military vehicles helped in the transfer of two of four kidnapped U.S. citizens, who were being brought back to Brownsville in the United States. The other two were found dead in Matamoros, Tamaulipas State, Mexico, on March 7, 2023. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)
MEXICO CITY—The U.S. State Department released a travel alert on Wednesday for Americans planning to spend their Spring break in Mexico.
The warning advises travelers to “exercise increased caution,” especially during nighttime at Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, which have previously experienced drug gang violence.
According to the alert, “U.S. citizens should exercise increased caution in the downtown areas of popular spring break locations including Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark.”
The State Department also mentioned that U.S. citizens have “become seriously ill or died in Mexico after using synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription pills.”
The warning is after reports suggest that some drug stores in Mexico sell sedatives and other medications that cannot be sold without prescriptions in the United States. These pills are often counterfeit and may contain the dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The travel alert also cautions tourists that “unregulated alcohol may be contaminated, and U.S. citizens have reported losing consciousness or becoming injured after consuming alcohol that was possibly tainted.”
There have been multiple instances of violence along the Caribbean coast, which is the primary attraction of Mexico’s tourism industry.
In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen due to outstanding payments between international drug and weapons trafficking groups.
Addtionally, in 2021, two tourists—one from California who was a travel blogger of Indian descent, and another from Germany—were caught in the line of fire between rival drug dealers and were killed in Tulum, a laid-back destination further south.