Mexico25 August, 20262 min read
U.S. Issues Mexicali Travel Alert, Suspends Consular Activities Over Potential Criminal Group Threat
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US issues travel alert for Americans visiting Mexicali. Consular activities suspended temporarily in Mexicali due to potential threat.
Alert Halts Consular Work
The U.S. government issued a travel alert for Americans planning to visit Mexicali in northern Mexico and temporarily suspended consular activities in the border city due to a “potential threat,” with the notice released Monday night and without providing details. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum told reporters on Tuesday that “there was an alert about the possibility of a criminal group” and said the report was based on information from U.S. agencies.
The U.S. notice advised Americans to avoid government buildings, seek shelter in the event of an incident, and remain aware of their surroundings, while the city remained calm throughout Tuesday. ABC News reported that Sheinbaum’s security cabinet later said authorities “have not identified any elements confirming a specific or imminent risk to the population” but stepped up surveillance and patrols in Mexicali as a “preventative measure.”
Surveillance, Panic, and Calm
In Arizona border communities, the alert put residents on edge despite calm conditions at ports of entry, and AZ Family reported that Jose Arguelles described a morning of panic when he was temporarily unable to reach his father in Mexicali. Arguelles said, “It’s been very vague on both sides—from both the Mexican government and the United States government,” adding that he was eventually able to contact his father.
AZ Family also quoted Mylee Vasquez, who lives in San Luis Río Colorado, Sonora, and crosses the border frequently, saying, “When I crossed the border to the Arizona side, I saw military presence and law enforcement.” Meanwhile, ABC News said the city remained calm throughout the day Tuesday as Mexican authorities stepped up surveillance and patrols in Mexicali as a “preventative measure.”
Cartel Operation and Reinforced Security
As the U.S. suspended consular activities, Mexican and U.S. authorities carried out an operation to seize drugs and arms from a criminal group known as “Los Rusos,” with the Associated Press reporting the operation used information provided by the DEA.
The Associated Press said U.S. Northern Command wrote on X that Mexican authorities worked to “identify, disrupt, and dismantle cartel operations posing a threat to the United States along the U.S.-Mexico border.”
FOX 5/KUSI reported that a video posted Thursday by Mexico security chief Omar Garcia Harfuch on X showed what appeared to be the seizure of “120 kilos of fentanyl pills, firearms and vehicles,” and said Harfuch linked the property in Mexicali to the “Los Rusos” cartel.
In response to the alert, Newsweek reported that Baja California’s Secretary of Citizen Security Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez said “At the direct instruction of Governor Marina del Pilar, state and federal forces are working in a coordinated manner to safeguard order and tranquility in the state capital.”