Mexicali, Mexico - A US consulate in Mexico on Tuesday issued a security alert for the border city of Mexicali, where authorities recently conducted a large seizure from drug-trafficking groups.
The alert was issued by the US government days after Mexican security forces, working with the US Drug Enforcement Administration, seized 265 pounds of fentanyl from a local gang linked to Mexico's notorious Sinaloa cartel.
Mexico's security ministry said, however, authorities were not aware of any "specific or imminent risk to the population."
Mexicali and nearby Tijuana serve as entry points for the flow of drugs from Mexico into the southern US.
The US consulate in Tijuana said it was suspending all its activities in Mexicali, the capital of Baja California state, over the "potential threat," and urged Americans in the area to exercise caution.
The governor of Baja California, Marina del Pilar, said security in the area had been stepped up as a result of the raids.
Baja California ranks among Mexico's top five most violent states due to the presence of drug cartels, official figures show.
Security Minister Omar Garcia Harfuch, in a post on X, said the recent fentanyl seizure had been carried out as a result of information sharing with the DEA.
"International cooperation, accompanied by the investigation and operational capacity of Mexican institutions, allows information to be translated into concrete results against criminal organizations and their logistical structures," Garcia Harfuch wrote in a statement translated from Spanish.
The security alert comes as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is increasingly under pressure from President Donald Trump to crack down harder on drug cartels.