Going north? Embassy caution...

[Doyle Phillips]

The U.S. issued a travel alert to the state of Taumalipas after several shootouts between Mexican government forces and armed men in Matamoros and Reynosa. The alert warned of a ”likelihood of increased violence in the Matamoros vicinity, reportedly between the Matamoros and Reynosa factions of the Gulf cartel.”

“While daytime convoys of armed TCO members are not necessarily unusual for Matamoros, the amount of violence that has resulted from gun battles between these rival factions is cause for increased vigilance,” the alert said.

Matamoros and Reynosa are dominated by the Gulf drug cartel, which has also been fighting with its former allies, the Zetas group.