AMERICANS are being warned not to visit a spring break hotspot as tourists continue to be brutally murdered in broad daylight.

The US Embassy issued an urgent warning to citizens planning to travel around Mexico due to a spike in killings and kidnappings.

Americans are advised to exercise extreme caution, per the agency’s website, due to shocking rates of violent crime. 

The US State Department reported 115 deaths of US citizens in Mexico between January 2022 and June 2022. 

The majority of those deaths were due to vehicle accidents; however, 25 of the deaths were caused by unspecified accidents. 

“Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico,” the website reads. 

Criminal violence in Mexico has left over 30,000 victims dead each year since 2018, the Council on Foreign Relations reported.

Former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Michael Brown, who now serves as the director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices, backs the embassy’s decision.

“If you leave the resort, you’re definitely at high risk, especially if you’re an American female,” Brown told Fox News. 

“You’re at risk of kidnapping or being sold into the sex trade. Anywhere in Mexico outside the resort is highly dangerous. Even in the resorts, the cartels have people scouting out,” he continued. 

“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.”

Any travelers planning on visiting Mexico should enroll in the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program   where the US Embassy can contact them in case of an emergency.

Tourists are also advised to drink responsibly, inform friends and family of their travel plans, and avoid using illegal drugs such as Marijuana while abroad.

If Americans ever feel their lives are in danger, they can contact the nearest US Embassy for assistance.

COUPLE KILLED

A California couple was shot and killed while vacationing together in Mexico this past December. 

The couple was visiting the Mexican state of Michoacán when a gunman opened fire on them, local Fox affiliate KTTV reported.

Gloria Ambriz, 50, and Rafael Cardona, 53, were driving their 2016 Ford Platinum pickup truck when gunmen began shooting at their car.

The gunshots left Ambriz dead at the scene, while Cardona later died in the hospital he was transported to in Puruándiro.

A GoFundMe has been started for the three children the couple left behind.

TRAGEDY STRIKES

In April 2024, a group of three men were fatally shot when visiting Mexico for a surfing trip. 

Jake and Callum Robinson, two surfers from Australia and California native Carter Rhoad, vanished as they traveled along the coast south of Ensenada. 

After a week-long search, the trio was later found dead in a 50-foot well with gunshot wounds to their heads.

Investigators believe that the tourists were killed after trying to de-escalate a confrontation between men who wanted to steal the tires off of their truck. 

The triple homicide was initially believed to be done by members of the Sinaloa Cartel, the group that controls the Ensenada area.

However, the cartel denies that it had any part in the murder and, in an attempt to deter any unwanted attention from authorities, handed over the names of the men involved in the shootings. 

 “They were low-level robbers acting alone. But we handed them over,” an anonymous cartel member reportedly told The Daily Beast.

“We learned that the cops were looking for the gringos and also began looking for those who were responsible.”

Pressure from American and Australian media outlets led Mexican authorities to quickly arrest four suspects in the case, the BBC reported.

IGNORING THE WARNINGS 

Last February, the wife of a DEA agent was shot to death after getting caught in the crossfire of a drug deal gone wrong at a resort in Tulum.

Los Angeles native Niko Honarbakhsh spent last winter fleeing the rising crime of her hometown for a peaceful retreat at Mia Beach Club. 

Honarbakhsh and her husband, Karl Pearman, used to split their time between their home in Beverly Hills and a condominium in Cancun, Fox News reported.

While staying in their Cancun condo for a few days as Pearman went on a work trip, the California woman decided to spend a few days in an Airbnb just two hours away.

Tragedy hit when Honarbakhsh got shot by a man involved in a drug deal.

“Basically, I guess there was an alleged drug dealer that came in and saw another drug dealer and then shot that drug dealer like up by the restaurant, and then that person was just injured,” Pearman recounted. 

“So he ran to get away from the other person. And as he ran out to the beach, the other person ran chasing him and shooting, but obviously not very good gun control as you’re running and shooting it. So the rounds, you know, one went all over and two of them hit Niko.”

The beach club and Mexican authorities initially tried to frame Honarbakhsh as a drug dealer involved in the shooting, but Pearman was quick to discredit those rumors. 

Pearman, a DEA agent for 15 years, said he and his wife were aware of the State Department’s travel advisory, but they figured that some areas of Mexico were safer than Los Angeles. 

“We were aware of the State Department advisory, and we were aware of, you know, reportings of crime in this area. But honestly, our opinion was – take a look at Los Angeles,” Perman told Fox News. 

“So, actually, I feel many times, depending upon the neighborhood, safer in Cancun than I do in Los Angeles. I mean, Beverly Hills, different story, but most of the time I spend outside of Beverly Hills. So, I can tell you that, I feel safer. And she did as well,” he continued. 

“We were aware of the crime. But again, I think if you look at the statistics, probably any major metropolitan area in the U.S. would have probably a bigger crime index than Cancun itself.”