US Issues Travel Alert for Spring Breakers in Mexico

Two of the four Americans kidnapped in Mexico’s crime-ridden northeast were returned to the United States by the National Guard and military vehicles. The operation was carried out after the deaths of the two other victims. (STR/AFP via Getty Images).

MEXICO CITY—The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert Wednesday for Americans planning to spend Spring break in Mexico.

This alert warns travelers that they are being watched. “exercise increased caution” Particularly after dark in Caribbean beaches like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum which have been plagued with drug gang violence.

“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 alert.

The Sate Department noted that U.S. citizens were also being criticized. “have become seriously ill or died in Mexico after using synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription pills.”

The warning was issued in response to reports that pharmacies in Mexico were offering sedatives, and other drugs that could only be purchased with prescriptions from the United States. Many Mexican pills contain dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl and are often counterfeited.

In the alert, it was also mentioned that “unregulated alcohol may be contaminated, and U.S. citizens have reported losing consciousness or becoming injured after consuming alcohol that was possibly tainted.”

A series of brazen acts have been committed along the Caribbean coast, which is the jewel of Mexico’s tourist industry.

Two Canadians were murdered in Playa del Carmen in 2022. This was apparently due to debts between international drug- and weapon trafficking gangs.

In 2021, farther south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists—one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German—were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.