Texas authorities are urging residents not to cross into the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo during the Fourth of July 2011 weekend because of intelligence that a Mexican drug cartel plans to target U.S. citizens

The violent Zetas drug cartel, which operates in Nuevo Laredo, will be targeting crimes at Americans who cross the border into the city during the July 4th, 2011 weekend, the Texas Department of Public Safety and Webb County Sheriff's Office has said. Nuevo Laredo, like most Mexican border cities, offers rows of bars, inexpensive dentists, restaurants and cultural events to draw tourists. But tourism has sharply declined in the past six years as drug cartel violence has spiraled in Mexico. Because of the various bridges into the United States and access to a major highway, Nuevo Laredo has been a turf contested by rival drug cartels. The Zetas are known for having expanded their activities in the area from drug trafficking to exortion, kidnapping and human smuggling.