As somebody who goes to Juarez several times per week and has also traveled extensively throughout Mexico, cartel violence typically does not reach the average tourist, just like how people who go to New York are unlikely to actually see the mob. I have experienced more hassle from police than gangs, and even that is usually a cursory questioning and pocket check for drugs.

15 years ago, there were some cities that were in the middle of organized crime wars, and sometimes things spilled over into public where civilians could get hurt. This created a lot of heat for the cartels, and more recently they have mostly been operating under the radar or in remote neighborhoods again.

The bigger risk than violence is kidnapping, but even that doesn’t tend to get aimed at the tourist population due to the international backlash it would cause.

If you keep your wits about you, travel in Ubers that you order rather than unmarked cabs, and don’t except drinks from strangers, then Mexico can be a wonderful adventure. The Mexican people have been mostly extremely good to me, and I refuse to cut them off as dangerous just because the news tries to tell me so.

um just mentioning you say initially killed and then peeled but as you progress it sounds like that is not the case.