U.S. consular staff told to travel in armored cars in the Nogales Consular District, Mexico
Citing “widespread violence” and “the threat of known drug trafficking activity throughout northern Sonora,” the U.S. Consulate in Hermosillo is requiring staff in Nogales, Sonora to travel exclusively by armored car in the Nogales Consular District.
The Nogales district stretches 600 miles from Agua Prieta in the east to San Luis Rio Colorado in the west, and about 60 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border.
As part of a warden message issued Nov. 4, the Hermosillo Consulate is also requiring that staff making personal trips between Nogales and Hermosillo travel only on Highway 15, and during daylight hours.
In addition, the warden message mandates that all official travel in Sonora south of Ciudad Obregon be conducted in armored vehicles and with police escorts, and it forbids any travel by consular employees south of Navojoa, Sonora.[…]