Department of Public Safety warns Texans against traveling to Mexico for spring break

As Spring Break kicks off in San Antonio, the Texas Department of Public Safety is warning college students and families against taking trips south of the border, the BBC reports.

“Drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent a significant safety threat to anyone who crosses into Mexico right now,” Texas DPS director Steven McCraw told the BBC. “Based on the volatile nature of cartel activity and the violence we are seeing there, we are urging individuals to avoid travel to Mexico at this time.”

McCraw's warning comes a week after four Americans were kidnapped after crossing into the Mexican city of Matamoros from Brownsville. Two of the four were later found dead, while the surviving two were repatriated to the U.S.

Last month, two sisters and a friend from the border town of Peñitas, near McAllen, disappeared after traveling to the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to sell clothes at a flea market, CNN reports. The three haven't been heard from since Feb. 24.

Despite the warning from Texas DPS, the U.S. State Department only warns Americans against travel to six Mexican states. The department recommends avoiding travel to the destination cities of Mazatlan, Zihuatanejo, Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta, although Cabo San Lucas and Cancun are considered mostly safe.

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