In addition to this story, check out my series of blogs on the recent surge in drug cartel violence (including how it directly affects Americans): PLEASE CLICK HERE for those reports.

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So there it is. This is the first time I've heard of a travel agency cancelling trips to Mexico due to drug cartel violence. The following story is from a TV news station that serves the Los Angeles area.

If you're a potential spring breaker, check out the State Department's Travel Alert for Mexico.

O.C. Travel Firm Cancels Mexico Spring Break Trips

KTLA News

March 10, 2009

COSTA MESA -- The crime crisis in Mexico has forced a major West Coast travel firm to cancel its upcoming spring break trips to Baja, California.

Summer Winter Action Tours (SWAT) of Costa Mesa says the thousands of students who planned to head south will instead travel to Palm Springs.

Travel alerts have been issued for over a year regarding rising drug cartel-related crime in Northern Mexico.  

The Los Angeles branch of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also recently urged students to avoid northern Baja, California during spring break.

SWAT has been sending students to Mexico for the past 12 years and, in a website post, insists that "San Felipe is one of the safest destinations in all of Baja California and Mexico."

"However, because so many of our existing customers and their families are concerned by the recent Mexico travel alerts issued by various agencies, SWAT has made the decision to provide our customers with peace of mind for their SWAT Spring Break 2009 experience," the statement continued.

Colleges sending students on spring break include: Cal State Fullerton, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, Cal State Long Beach, Orange Coast College, Cal Lutheran and Arizona State University.

In a March 2 warning, the ATF issued a warning specifically cautioning against student trips to Tijuana and Rosarito Beach. Some students on SWAT tours would have had to pass through Tijuana on the drive to San Felipe.

U.S. State Department alerts have urged American citizens traveling through Mexico to exercise caution and be aware of their surroundings at all times.  The alerts also noted violent attacks in cities across the country in which "Mexican and foreign bystanders have been injured or killed."

The State Department also says dozens of U.S. Citizens have been kidnapped across Mexico in recent years.

Mexican officials say the media has overblown the violence, which they argue is between drug cartels in areas not frequented by tourists.  

Tourist trips to Baja, California are said to have dropped as much as 60 percent since a mid-2007 peak.