Recently, two alleged “narco-banners” emerged online, cautioning Americans against visiting Mexico’s Los Cabos region. These banners have raised alarm over potential intimidation tactics by cartels, despite local authorities’ claims that such signs were never actually present.

The supposed warnings, attributed to La Chapiza, a faction within the notorious Sinaloa Cartel, promised violence against U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to this favored tourist area. Although photos of these banners quickly gained traction on social media, officials in Baja California Sur report no physical evidence of their existence has been found.

Joe Peters, the District Attorney from Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, who previously worked in the White House’s drug policy office during the Clinton and Bush administrations, shared insights with Fox News Digital. He emphasized that whether or not the Cabo banners are confirmed, the method aligns with longstanding “narco-terrorism” tactics used by cartels.

“When dealing with a cartel of this magnitude, situated so close to us, it’s crucial to take the threat seriously,” Peters stated. “These actions serve as a warning to both governments, using fear and intimidation much like the mafia historically has.”

Image of a banner displayed in a house in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico, on February 23, 2010. These messages, known in Spanish as “Narcomantas,” are typically used for communication among drug cartels or directed at the government. (Jose Dominguez/AFP via Getty Images)

Public “narco -anners,” or narcomantas, have long been used by Mexican cartels as propaganda tools, with the large signs draped across bridges or hung in public plazas to issue threats, claim territory or taunt rivals.

Peters said reports of such banners should be taken seriously given the proximity to America’s borders.

“When you’re dealing with a cartel that serious and that close to our border, we have to take it seriously. Add to that the number of Americans traveling to Latin America for business or pleasure — it’s a ready stock of potential victims for extortion,” he said.

A police officer removes a banner allegedly hung by a drug gang in a house in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo state, in Mexico on Feb. 23, 2010.  (Jose Dominguez/AFP via Getty Images)

Peters, who served in senior roles in the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, said the current threats echo the global cartel tactics he saw firsthand.

In the 1980s and ’90s, Colombia’s cocaine cartels controlled entire regions through intimidation, corruption and fear tactics that are nearly identical to what’s now unfolding in parts of Mexico.

“Their strategy is simple: if they can control the levers of power in a nation through intimidation, then they control the nation,” Peters said. “They assassinate police, judges and journalists, and they use fear to rule, the same way authoritarian regimes do.”

Tourists swim at Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Mariceu Erthal/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The difference today, he warned, is proximity. This time, the violence and instability are unfolding just beyond America’s southern border, in places millions of U.S. citizens visit each year for vacations and business.

That closeness, Peters said, makes Americans prime targets for extortion, kidnapping and terror.

“My advice is simple: don’t go unless you really need to,” he said. “Be cautious, and stick to places with an established record of safety.”