The U.S. State Department issued a revised travel advisory for Mexico Friday, warning the security risk posed by organized crime and drug cartel violence was becoming more serious for U.S. citizens., Xinhua reported.
The advisory warned U.S. citizens against non-essential travel to the states of Michoacan and Tamaulipas and parts of nine other states.Two U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents based in Mexico City were attacked in San Luis Potosi state while driving northward along a busy highway on Feb. 15.
The U.S. advisory cautioned Mexico's drug cartels operated illegal checkpoints on public highways in some states and posed as police officers and soldiers.U.S. government employees are now forbidden to drive on many Mexican highways, including the roads leading from the U.S.-Mexico border to inland Mexico. All driving on Mexican highways should be done in the daytime, the advisory said.
The U.S. government reported 111 Americans were killed in Mexico last year, an increase from 35 deaths registered in 2007.Mexico's drug cartels frequently battle among themselves and with the police and soldiers, and the violence has claimed more than 35,000 lives over the past four years.
The U.S. advisory came as Mexicans were taking to the country's highways in large numbers for trips to beach and resort destinations such as Acapulco for their Easter vacations.