Bad News for Cancun: Crimes on the Rise
U.S. authorities are warning Americans away from Mexican border areas such as Nuevo Laredo because of drug violence, but the average tourist may face more danger on a Cancun beach.

In June alone, two 18-year-old American women were raped in separate incidents in Cancun, in what some activists call an epidemic that is being swept under the rug by U.S. and Mexican authorities. One victim was from Houston, and her attacker was a hotel security guard.

On the other side of Mexico, a 22-year-old man from Houston and a 16-year-old girl from Miami were killed during a highway robbery last fall in Guerrero.

"Cancun is one of the safest places in Mexico and one of the safest places in the world," said Mayor Francisco Alor Quezada. "But it is also not the exception to the fact that bad things happen everywhere."

The top Mexican tourist spot saw its local government nearly melt down this year, as the city ran out of funds, allegedly because of corruption, and police went on strike.