The U.S. State Department issued a warning Tuesday for travelers headed to Mexico, due to crime and kidnapping, the agency said. The State Department said travelers should use increased caution for the entire country of Mexico and raised the alert level for travel to the country to a level two.
The five states the agency said 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.
Some of those five states are home to popular tourist destinations like Mazatlan and Acapulco.
This week, Mexico's president released crime statistics for the year. While the report shows some progress, crime overall remains a problem.
While Baja California wasn't on the advisory, Tijuana leads the nation in malicious homicides, with more than 1,800 this year alone. At one point in December 2018, Tijuana saw roughly 24 homicides per day.
The state department has some tips if you are traveling to Mexico:
- keep family and friends updated
- don't take taxis alone
- only use taxis or rideshares you've called for
- be careful at bars
- be alert at ATMs and banks
- leave expensive jewelry at home
The U.S. government say it has limited ability to provide emergency services to citizens in Mexico.