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U.S. Consulate warns travelers going to Mexican border towns

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- The U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico issued a travel advisory for American citizens traveling to the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas warning them over recent criminal activity at different areas on the border.

"The U.S. Consulate is aware of increasingly frequent gun battles occurring in and around Reynosa in the late night and early morning hours. Separately, the state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads," the statement said.

As a precaution, they ordered U.S. government employees to avoid all travel in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours and avoid dirty roads through the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

Some of the actions to take if you're traveling to Tamaulipas are the following:

  • Avoid dirt roads.  Stay on paved roads.
  • Do not touch unknown objects in or near roads.
  • Plan travel during daylight hours
  • Monitor local media for updates.
  • Be aware of your surroundings.
  • Notify friends and family of your safety.

According to the U.S. Department of State through its Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Mexico Travel Advisory for El Paso's neighboring Mexican state of Chihuahua says it is under "Level 3," which means "reconsider travel."

Chihuahua is under the consulate's reconsider travel advisory due to crime and kidnapping.

"Violent crime and gang activity are common. Most homicides are targeted assassinations against members of criminal organizations. Battles for territory between criminal groups have resulted in violent crime in areas frequented by U.S. citizens and U.S. government employees, including restaurants and malls during daylight hours. Bystanders have been injured or killed in shooting incidents. U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) have been victims of kidnapping," the consulate's statement says.

To view a map of the restricted areas, you can click here.

There's also a travel advisories map of the world where the U.S. Department of State shows you the levels each country and Mexican state are currently in for anyone traveling.

ABC-7 spoke with former U.S. Marshal Robert Almonte who said working for the Department of Justice they would tell them to not travel to certain areas in Mexico, to travel only using main highways, and to travel during the daytime.

"The Mexican cartels are experts at creating chaos, and that's what they like to do create chaos and you see some situations where they're shooting at our law enforcement officers across the border. They're planting explosive IEDs, that's basically warfare on the part of the Mexican cartel," Almonte said.

"So I'm very concerned, and I would strongly recommend against anybody traveling in Mexico, for the immediate future anyway," Almonte added.

Fighting between different criminal groups in Juárez is something that U.S. government officials also warn travelers about.

"There's a big conception with a lot of people that the Mexican cartels make all of their money with drug trafficking; that's the furthest thing from the truth. You can legalize all the drugs and the Mexican cartels aren't going to go away. They're criminals, they're thugs, and they'll do anything to make some money," Almonte said.

Another big concern for officials and former officials like Almonte is Mexican law enforcement because they're notorious for being involved in corruption, he said.

"So that's a concern where you may even have Mexican law enforcement officials there in a Juárez area that are working hand in hand directly with the Mexican cartel. And they may be involved in assisting in accomplishing those kidnappings or other criminal activities; so there are so many things to be concerned about," Almonte added.

He also told ABC-7, that Mexico's biggest problem is corruption, and not until the country gets the handle on the corruption, things aren't going to get better for Mexican nationals.

Article Topic Follows: On the Border

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Heriberto Perez

Heriberto Perez Lara reports for ABC-7 on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

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