The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is urging Texans to avoid traveling south of the border during the holidays.
In a warning issued late Thursday afternoon, DPS officials cited concerns that drug cartel violence continues to plague cities on the Mexican side of the border as other cities such as Monterrey and Acapulco.
DPS warned that drug-related and other criminal activity has even been documented in popular tourist destinations such as Cancun and Mazatlan.
The warning came out just a couple of hours after Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR) released figures that 30,196 people have been killed in Mexican President Felipe Calderon's war on drug traffickers.
The PGR reports that about 41 percent or 12,456 people have been killed this year alone.
DPS Director Steven C. McCraw said in a statement that the safety and security of holiday travelers cannot be guaranteed if they venture into Mexico.
“We recognize people safely travel and vacation in Mexico on a daily basis, but the increase in violence is also a reality,” McCraw said. “There are no guarantees that drug-related violence will spare innocent bystanders and that criminals will refrain from attacking tourists.”
The DPS warning cited an increase of kidnappings as well as violence between cartels and battles between cartels and law enforcement authorities over the past few years.
The U.S. State Department website lists travel information related to violence in Mexico. Among the items noted on the website:
• Kidnapping, including the kidnapping of non-Mexicans, continues at alarming rates.
• Carjackings and other criminal assaults have occurred on highways throughout Mexico; travelers should exercise caution at all times; avoid traveling at night.
• Rape and sexual assault continue to be serious problems in Cancun and other resort areas.
• Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against U. S. citizens, including murders and kidnappings.
The DPS urged travelers who do go to Mexico to check the U.S. State Department website for the most up-to-date information related to security issues in Mexico:
International Travel Information Mexico
or
US Embassy in Mexico
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT