As the United States enhances security at its southern border amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, the State Department has issued a Level 4 travel advisory for a region in northeastern Mexico near McAllen and Brownsville, Texas.
Amid ongoing gun battles, kidnappings, and rampant crime, the advisory also highlights the presence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) on dirt roads in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
The State Department’s advisory specifically warns, “[T]he state of Tamaulipas has issued a warning to avoid moving or touching improvised explosive devices (IEDs), which have been found in and around the area of Reynosa, Rio Bravo, Valle Hermoso, and San Fernando along dirt and secondary roads.” It further notes that “IEDs are being increasingly manufactured and used by criminal organizations in this region.”
Additionally, the U.S. Consulate in Mexico reported that an IED destroyed an official Mexican government vehicle in Rio Bravo on January 23, injuring its occupant.
A Spanish-language flyer published by the Tamaulipas government on social media advises the public to avoid touching or moving any suspicious-looking devices found along the roadside.
According to the advisory, U.S. government employees are prohibited from traveling “in and around Reynosa and Rio Bravo outside of daylight hours” and are advised to avoid dirt roads throughout Tamaulipas. They are also restricted from using interior Mexican highways to travel between cities in the state due to safety concerns.
“Travel advisory Level 4 is the highest level there is,” stated former DEA Senior Special Agent Michael Brown, who is now the global director of counter-narcotics technology at Rigaku Analytical Devices. “That’s a warning: Do not go there. I have experienced that, but it was in countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia. … The area we’re talking about is the state of Tamaulipas, which includes Reynosa and Matamoros, known for extreme violence in Mexico.”
Brown speculates that the recent changes in immigration policies have significantly affected cartel operations. “With the sudden end of the Biden-Harris open-border policies, the cartels are no longer making billions of dollars in human trafficking,” he explained.
He added, “Now that area has been reduced significantly, meaning cartels, which may have been working together up to a week ago, are now competing for access to Reynosa and Matamoros. Human smuggling isn’t going to stop; it’s just going to be more expensive and more dangerous.”
Brown noted that cartels using IEDs are mimicking tactics seen in other global conflicts to counter movements from rival cartels and human traffickers. “Under the last four years of the Biden-Harris administration, nothing was done. The cartels were given carte blanche access to the United States through the open-border system. Now that’s been cut off, and they’ve been designated as terrorist organizations,” he said.
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The State Department’s Level 4 advisory warns travelers to avoid dirt roads, unknown roadside objects, and travel after dark due to high risks of crime and kidnapping threats. Common criminal activities in the area include gun battles, murder, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, forced disappearances, extortion, and sexual assault.
Brown emphasized that the recent immigration policy changes affecting cartel networks’ financial success also pose a significant threat to Americans and law enforcement personnel stationed near the border. “As cartel members come across the border with narcotics for human trafficking, they are armed and ready for conflict. Encounters with Border Patrol, Texas Rangers, or DEA could lead to gunfights,” he warned.
He further explained that of the millions of illegal immigrants who crossed into the United States over the past four years, each migrant had to pay a toll to a cartel or smaller groups, resulting in billions of dollars in cartel profits.
The State Department noted that heavily armed criminal groups often target public and private passenger buses, as well as private vehicles traveling through Tamaulipas, frequently taking passengers and demanding ransom payments.
The Level 4 warning coincides with the Trump administration’s intensified efforts to combat illegal immigration and crime at the U.S.-Mexico border. Brown likened the violence in Tamaulipas to that seen in conflict zones in the Middle East. “It wasn’t that long ago before the Sinaloa Cartel was executing police officers and hanging them from bridges. We didn’t even see that level of violence in Afghanistan when I was there,” he remarked. “The cartels have escalated violence to a whole new level, acting like any terrorist organization with the primary goal of making money.”
Recent reports indicate that officials deported around 2,000 illegal immigrants to Mexico last Thursday, both by land and air, while Mexican authorities detained approximately 5,000 migrants within its borders.
In response to the escalating situation, Trump has ordered 1,500 active-duty troops to the southern border to bolster military presence.