Texas officers are warning residents towards touring throughout the state’s southern border to Mexico over spring break following the kidnapping of 4 American vacationers final week, two of whom later died.
A Friday launch from the Texas Division of Public Security (DPS) stated that Texans ought to postpone or cancel present journey plans and customarily keep away from journey to Mexico “throughout spring break, and past, as a result of ongoing violence all through that nation.”
“Drug cartel violence and different legal exercise symbolize a major security risk to anybody who crosses into Mexico proper now,” Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw stated in an announcement.
“Primarily based on the unstable nature of cartel exercise and the violence we’re seeing there, we’re urging people to keep away from journey to Mexico at the moment,” McCraw stated.
The Texas DPS stated it “understands many individuals do journey to Mexico with out incident” however harassed that “the intense dangers can’t be ignored.”
The 4 American victims of the latest kidnapping had been reportedly visiting Mexico for a medical process.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) on Friday despatched a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to sound alarms about reviews of “Mexican pharmacies in in style vacationer locations promoting counterfeit prescription drugs” laced with the harmful and illicit medication fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“These adulterated medication place unsuspecting U.S. vacationer clients — a few of whom are in search of to keep away from excessive pharmaceutical drug pricing in the US — prone to overdose and dying,” Markey stated.
He urged the State Division to take motion and difficulty a journey advisory to “warn People touring to Mexico of the hazard they face when buying drugs from Mexican pharmacies.”
The State Division has journey advisories up with warnings for a variety of areas within the nation as a consequence of crime and kidnapping, suggesting People train elevated warning or rethink journey to 2 dozen Mexican states, and urging them to not go to a number of others.
“Violent crime — similar to murder, kidnapping, carjacking, and theft — is widespread and customary in Mexico. The U.S. authorities has restricted skill to supply emergency companies to U.S. residents in lots of areas of Mexico, as journey by U.S. authorities workers to sure areas is prohibited or restricted,” the division’s abstract reads.
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