Cruise ships are being warned to avoid six ports in Mexico (Image: Getty)
Brits spending their cruising around the US and might miss out on a few stops after authorities warned travel companies not to dock at six Mexican ports where a heightened risk of kidnapping and murder has been reported.
The US Department of State has issued the urgent ‘Level 4: Do Not Travel’ warning for Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas as crime rates in the areas spiral out of control.
“Violent crime – such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking and robbery – is widespread and common in Mexico,” the statement warned.
Authorities suggest that Colima, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas pose an extra risk of crime and kidnapping to holidaying .
Colima, a small state in west Mexico, has one of the highest murder rates in the world of 22 per every 100,000 residents, and recorded 623 intentional homicides between January and October 2024 alone, according to the Latin Times.
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Thousands of troops have been sent to tackle rising violence in Sinaloa (Image: Getty)
The warnings from US authorities have forced cruise companies including Royal Caribbean to axe Colima from its port schedule. “Violent crime and gang activity are widespread” in Colima’s capital city of Manzanillo, according to the department.
“Most homicides are targeted assassinations against members of criminal organisations,” it added. “[But] shooting incidents between criminal groups have injured or killed bystanders. US citizens have been victims of kidnapping.”
Southwestern state Guerrero also made headlines in October when Mayor Alejandro Arcos was found decapitated less than a week after taking office.
Meanwhile, a holidaying American couple were killed by gunmen in Michoacan on December 11 in a horrific and seemingly unmotivated attack and a popular Mexican YouTuber was found dead in Sinaloa on December 20 after an apparent run-in with a notorious drugs gang.
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Colima in western Mexico has one of the highest murder rates in the world (Image: Getty)
Alongside designating six spots as absolute no-go zones, the Department of State has put all 31 states in Mexico under varying degrees of travel warnings, with the entire country considered to pose dangers to tourists due to elevated cartel crime rates.
Mexico has seen a fresh wave of violence since cartel boss Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada was arrested in Texas in July – sowing fresh discord between gang members and local politicians, especially in Zambada’s home state of Sinaloa, where over 260 people have been killed since July.
President Claudia Sheinbaum is pledging to crack down on the country’s drug cartels, however, sending thousands of troops to stem the escalating conflict in Sinaloa this week, according to Reuters.
While the confrontational approach could risk a rise in short-term violence and murder, it is thought that the tough approach could align with the stance of incoming US president , who has called on Mexico to take a harder line on stopping the flow of drugs and migrants across the border.