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Employees of the US Consulate in Hermosillo, Sonora have been forbidden from traveling south the Navajoa and from traveling in areas without security because of drug gang violence, say Mexican news accounts.
The area around Navajoa, which is about 300 kilometers south of Hermosillo and the area south is a known drug trafficking route for the Sinaloa Drug cartel.
Travel is discouraged to Los Alamos (Sonora tourist icon), via Ciudad Obregon, as is travel to the mountainous area of the state, "which applies broadly to the line running north to south through Montezuma Nacozari, Arivechi, Rosario and Los Alamos."
Consular officers are instructed if they travel through the border city of Nogales, Sonora, to do so only in armored vehicles with personal bodyguards.
Travel from Hermosillo to Nogales in private vehicles is only encouraged during daylight hours and only along Mexico Federal Highway 15 turnpike.
The highway to Nogales bypasses an area to the west called the Altar Desert. The area is a known gang strong point and communications center centered around El Saric and Tubutama, which have been the scene of massive intergang shootouts in July and August. The area was also recently swept by a joint operation of the Mexican Army and elements of the Policia Federal last October.