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Spring Breakers Party Stateside

Reports of gun violence, drug cartels in Mexican border towns keep students away

By Caroline Zimmerman,  Newser User

Posted Mar 10, 2008 12:50 PM CDT
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(Newser) – More spring breakers are sipping their Coronas domestically this year, the AP reports. Mexico is a staple hotspot, but widespread reports of drug wars in border towns and tightened security at US entry points have convinced many college vacationers to remain stateside. In places like Texas's South Padre Island, students are skipping the usual excursions to nearby Matamoros.

Mexico recently deployed soldiers to patrol checkpoints, not to crack down on kids but to keep visitors and residents safe, said one tourism official. Still, slumping demand forced one woman who runs a shuttle service in South Padre to cancel night rides to Matamoros. "I'm not about the border anymore," said one spring breaker. "It's not safe."

A woman drinks from the bottle at a nightclub in Cancun, Mexico, Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border during spring break, discouraged by crime and crackdowns on drugs.(AP Photo/Israel Leal)
A woman drinks from the bottle at a nightclub in Cancun, Mexico, Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border during spring break, discouraged by crime and crackdowns on drugs.(AP...   (Associated Press)
U.S. students prepare to make a toast in a hotel pool in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border for spring break, discouraged by drug wars and mounting violence.(AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
U.S. students prepare to make a toast in a hotel pool in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border for spring break, discouraged by drug wars and mounting...   (Associated Press)
Two U.S students dance in a hotel pool in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border during spring break, discouraged by crime and crackdowns on drugs. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Two U.S students dance in a hotel pool in Acapulco, Mexico, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2008. Fewer U.S. students are going south of the border during spring break, discouraged by crime and crackdowns on drugs....   (Associated Press)
Megan King, 18, winces as she crams herself onto the dashboard of a Volkwagen Beetle to join 26 people in the car in a contest during Spring Break in Daytona Beach, Florida, where businesses are seein
Megan King, 18, winces as she crams herself onto the dashboard of a Volkwagen Beetle to join 26 people in the car in a contest during Spring Break in Daytona Beach, Florida, where businesses are seein   (KRT Photos)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students, from left, Will DuBois, 19, Daniel Martin, 19, Marcus Newbury, 18, and R.J. Bartolai, 18, hold up signs rating women who pass by them in Daytona Beach, F
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students, from left, Will DuBois, 19, Daniel Martin, 19, Marcus Newbury, 18, and R.J. Bartolai, 18, hold up signs rating women who pass by them in Daytona Beach, F   (KRT Photos)
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Students alerted to scam spring break packages
WBNS-10TV Columbus

More on border violence
Houston Chronicle

World • Lifestyle • US

 
drugs • Texas • Mexico • college • vacation • college student • spring break • South Padre Island • Matamoros

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