US issues Mexico travel warning with several states marked ‘Do Not Travel’

The U.S. State Department issued a warning Tuesday for travelers headed to Mexico, due to crime and kidnapping, the agency says. The State Department says travelers should use increased caution for the entire country of Mexico and raised the alert level for travel to the country to a level 2.

States the agency says travelers should absolutely not travel to are Colima state, Guerrero state, Michoacán state, Sinaloa state and Tamaulipas state, citing crime for all of those areas, and both crime and kidnapping for Tamaulipas state.

Travelers should reconsider travel to the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Durango, Jalisco, Mexico, Morelos, Nayarit, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosi, Sonora and Zacatecas due to crime.

The State Department says if travelers decide to go to Mexico, you should keep travel companions and your family and friends back home up-to-date on your exact travel plans. Send people your GPS location when traveling, and take photos of the taxi number and also the license plate when traveling alone and text those photos to people you trust. Do not display signs of wealth and use extra caution in bars, casinos and nightclubs. Also be extra vigilant while at banks and ATMs.

The State Department is asking travelers to read their entire travel advisory thoroughly at the Department of State’s website here.