U.S. warns spring break travelers to Mexico to

The U.S. on Thursday warned American citizens traveling to Mexico for spring break to exercise increased caution.

“Crime, including violent crime, can occur anywhere in Mexico, including in popular tourist destinations,” the U.S. Mission to Mexico said in a news release. It advised travelers to maintain situational awareness and promptly leave potentially dangerous situations.

The advisory said travelers should be particularly cautious in downtown areas of popular spring break destinations, including Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark.

Thursday’s advisory also cautioned against using synthetic drugs, unregulated alcohol and counterfeit medication while in the country, noting previous, correlated deaths and injuries of U.S. citizens after using or consuming such substances.

The warning came after several recent incidents concerning foreign tourists in Mexico. Earlier this month, an American woman and a man from Belize were killed in what appeared to have been a dispute between drug dealers at a beach club in the resort city of Tulum.

In May 2023, a Canadian tourist was shot to death in Mexico’s Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, days after a tourist from Argentina died after being attacked by a machete in another coastal town in Oaxaca. An American tourist was shot in the leg in March 2023 by unidentified assailants in the resort town of Puerto Morelos on Mexico’s Caribbean coast.