Americans seeking a reprieve from blistering winter blues should stay alert as safety warnings grow amid a surge in murders in Mexico, an expert warns.
Former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Michael Brown, currently the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, told Fox News Digital that Americans must be on high alert when traveling to Mexico.
“If you leave the resort, you’re definitely at high risk, especially if you’re an American female,” he said. “You’re at risk of kidnapping or being sold into the sex trade. Anywhere in Mexico outside the resort is highly dangerous.”
US ISSUES MAJOR TRAVEL ADVISORY FOR MEXICAN BORDER STATE OVER CONCERNS WITH GUN BATTLES, IEDS
Tulum is the site of a pre-Columbian Maya walled city serving as a major port for Cob. (Fredo de Luna/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“Even in the resorts, the cartels have people scouting out,” he said. “Oh, here’s a rich couple, let’s kidnap them or here are some attractive girls by themselves. Let’s grab them on a Saturday night.”
“You cannot underestimate that,” he said. “They [the cartels] have people out there watching to see what is going on and scouting potential targets.”
The data
According to data from the U.S. State Department, between January 2022 and June 2022, there were 115 deaths of U.S. citizens in Mexico, of which 25 were homicides.
The largest number of deaths in that time period was a result of vehicle accidents, with unspecified accidents also accounting for 25 deaths.
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the agency was not immediately able to provide a more recent statistic of how many U.S. citizens died in Mexico in 2024, noting that they are in the process of “refining” their reporting.
Brown noted that while the percentage of visitors to Mexico who end up being violent crime victims is tiny compared to the number who have an uneventful trip, it’s still wise to adhere to safety standards.
“But if it’s your child that dies, it’s a big deal,” he noted. “So I don’t think we can allow the low percentages to be our moral guidance as to is it is a crisis or is it not a crisis.”
U.S. students on spring break flock to the Mexican Caribbean despite warnings from Washington to travel to the southern neighbor due to a wave of attacks on U.S. citizens. (ELIZABETH RUIZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Spring break advisory
The former DEA agent’s words of warning came after the U.S. Embassy and consulates in Mexico issued a comprehensive advisory this week. The warning urges American citizens to exercise heightened caution during their spring break travels.
“Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico,” the U.S. Embassy said.
| Do Not Travel To: |
|---|
| Colima state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Guerrero state due to crime. |
| Michoacan state due to crime. |
| Sinaloa state due to crime. |
| Tamaulipas state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Zacatecas state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Reconsider Travel To: |
| Baja California state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Chiapas state due to crime. |
| Chihuahua state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Guanajuato state due to crime. |
| Jalisco state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Morelos state due to crime and kidnapping. |
| Sonora state due to crime and kidnapping. |
2024 deaths
US woman killed in Mexican resort town popular with Americans
An American woman died in the crossfire of an apparent drug deal gone bad at a popular Mexican beach resort in the municipality of Tulum.
CALIFORNIA WOMAN SHOT DEAD IN MEXICAN RESORT TOWN POPULAR WITH AMERICANS
The victim was 44-year-old Los Angeles native Niko Honarbakhsh, with authorities saying that she died from a stray bullet.
Other tourists in recent years have died in gang-related crossfire in Tulum, including a California travel blogger and a German, who were killed in 2021 while eating in a restaurant after rival drug dealers started shooting each other.
American couple killed in Mexico, found shot in pickup truck
The bodies of two Americans from California were found after they were shot to death in a pickup truck in Mexico, according to officials.
Authorities located Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, while responding to a report of a shooting in Angamacutiro in the western state of Michoacán in December, according to Fox 11 Los Angeles, citing the state attorney general’s office.
The Michoacán State Attorney General’s Office launched an investigation into the murders of California couple Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, who were attacked while on vacation. (KVTV)
The State Department noted in their advisory to exercise “increased caution” when traveling in Angamacutiro.
The couple, who were on vacation visiting family, were traveling in a black 2016 Ford Platinum pickup truck when gunmen opened fire near an intersection.
Ambriz was pronounced dead on the scene, and Cardona died shortly after being taken to a hospital in Puruándiro, officials said.
2 Australians, 1 American murdered on surfing vacation in Mexico:
In May, Mexican authorities confirmed two Australians and an American were killed on a surfing trip because thieves wanted the tires off their truck.
The three men, brothers Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and American Jack Carter Rhoad, were on a camping and surfing trip along a stretch of coast south of the city of Ensenada when they disappeared.
Australian brothers Callum Robinson and Jake Robinson, top left, and U.S. citizen Jack Carter Rhoad, right (Reuters)
All three bodies were later found with gunshot wounds to the head, Reuters reported, citing a source from the attorney general’s office.
Chief state prosecutor María Elena Andrade Ramírez theorized that the killers drove by and saw the foreigners’ pickup truck and tents and wanted to steal their tires. But “when [the foreigners] came up and caught them, surely they resisted.”
Oklahoma college students say they were drugged at Cancun resort:
Photos shared by Zara Hull and her family show the moment Hull and Kaylie Pitze say they became unconscious after drinking tainted water on Aug. 1.
Hull and a group of friends were in Cancun for a four-day trip that was quickly cut short.
OKLAHOMA COLLEGE STUDENTS SAY THEY WERE DRUGGED AT CANCUN RESORT POOL BAR IN VACATION NIGHTMARE
Stephanie Snider, whose son, Jake, is Hull’s boyfriend, said in a series of Facebook posts that Hull and Pitze were slipped a drug while they were at the resort in Cancun.
“What started out as a fun vacation with friends for them ended up as our worst nightmare,” Snider wrote.
Tourists walk on a beach in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on July 11, 2017. (Brett Gundlock/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
After leaving the pool, Jake explained that Pitze was taken back to their room in a wheelchair, while he carried Hull. Hull began throwing up and having what he thought was a seizure.
“Zara started having what the resort doctor called a ‘seizure’ and said she needed to be taken to the hospital. Once she was there, the hospital demanded $10,000 just to look at her to help her and start treating her. The money was sent. By the next morning, we were told more money was needed to continue treatment,” Snider said.
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Snider said Pitze did not end up in the hospital but struggled the following day after the incident.
“Neither of the girls have any memory of what happened after they took that last drink, which happened to have been a glass of WATER. We think it was whatever was put in that glass of water that did it. Both girls collapsed at the very SAME time. They both are battling feelings of not knowing what happened and ‘why them?’” Snider said.
Nearly 27 hours later and after spending thousands of dollars, Hull’s family was able to negotiate with the U.S. Embassy and have her flown to Dallas to continue medical treatment.
Fox News’ Peter Aitken and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
