The U.S. Consulate General in Nogales issued an emergency message on Sunday warning United States citizens to take the "highest precautions regarding personal safety in and around Nogales."
The message says this warning is due to "credible threat information," but as of today, Tuesday, there's been no word of what the threat is.
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Below is the entire message:
Due to credible threat information, the consulate urges US citizens to take highest precautions regarding personal safety in and around Nogales.The Facebook and Twitter pages mentioned only include references to this message, with no additional detail.
In order to receive the most current security information available, the U.S. Consulate General in Nogales encourages all United States Citizens living in or visiting northern Sonora to "Follow Us" on Twitter, or "Like Us" on Facebook. The Consulate will use Twitter and Facebook to disseminate regular and time sensitive information related to the security situation in northern Sonora.
We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Mexico enroll in the Department of state's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program. STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates, and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy or nearest U.S. consulate to contact you in an emergency. If you don't have Internet access, enroll directly with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.
Regularly monitor the State Department's website, where you can find current Travel Warnings, (including the Travel Warning for Mexico), Travel Alerts, and the Worldwide Caution. Read the Country Specific Information for Mexico. For additional information, refer to "A Safe Trip Abroad" on the State Department's website.
Contact the U.S. embassy or consulate for up-to-date information on travel restrictions. You can also call 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the United States and Canada or 1-202-501-4444 from other countries. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays). Follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and download our free Smart Traveler iphone App to have travel information at your fingertips.
The U.S. Consulate General in Nogales is located at Calle San José s/n Fraccionamiento los Alamos C. P. 84065 Nogales, Sonora and is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The main phone number for the U.S. Consulate General is 631-311-8150. If you are a U.S. citizen in need of urgent assistance, the emergency number for the U.S. Consulate General is 631-318-0723.
The State Department hasn't issued a travel warning, and the last update to the travel information on Mexico came back in January. That travel warning includes nothing specific about Nogales, but about the state of Sonora in general, it says, "Sonora is a key region in the international drug and human trafficking trades, and can be extremely dangerous for travelers. Travelers throughout Sonora are encouraged to limit travel to main roads during daylight hours."
Meanwhile, KVOA, a TV news crew in Tucson, is citing an anonymous "senior U.S. law-enforcement official," who says the threat in question was a death threat against a DEA official in Nogales, Sonora. The report says the consulate gives the public the same warnings it would give its employees, hence the warning.
Meanwhile, the Mexican newspaper El Imparcial reports five murders in Nogales, Sonora, over the past three days, including a 25-year-old Tucson resident, identified as Jorge Luis Soto. He was found dead from gunshot wounds inside his car, according to the report.
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