Are spring breakers who travel to Acapulco, Mexico, in danger? Reports of increased violence in the city have caused some travelers to worry. INSIDE EDITION reports.
American college students spend their days partying poolside and their nights partying in clubs.
It's spring break in Acapulco, Mexico, and more than ever, it's the place to be because MTV has chosen the city for its annual spring break production.
MTV spring break 2010 is party central, but it's also an armed fortress. Many of the officers there carry AR-15 assault rifles...and for good reason.
In March, an astonishing 13 people lost their lives in drug violence just blocks from where the spring breakers are partying. Four victims were actually beheaded. In another Mexican city, an American couple was shot to death in their car as their one-year-old sat in the backseat. The toddler survived.
Some students didn't know about the violence before they came to Acapulco. Others knew, but came anyway.
"[My parents] were worried but I had to come down here," one student told INSIDE EDITION.
A group of students told INSIDE EDITION their friend had just been mugged. "Last night our friend was held at gun point by her cab, they got money out of their ATM and then their cab driver held them at gun point for the money," said one member of the group.
But others say there is nothing to worry about.
"We have armed guards at the hotel, we have armed guards at the airport," says Todd Steinberg of xtremetrips.com. Steinberg organizes spring break vacations and says all that security means spring breakers are safe.
"Should people be frightened to come to Acapulco?" asks INSIDE EDITION's Jim Moret.
"Absolutely not," says Steinberg.
Many spring breakers are only going out in large groups, and at the most popular clubs, which don't close until 6:30 a.m., everyone is searched by security.
"If my friends had a trip planned to Mexico next week, I would say, 'Do not go to Mexico,' " said the student whose friend was mugged.
But most students seemed to be loving every minute of it, telling INSIDE EDITION they have no regrets about travelling to Acapulco.
