The State Department issued a cautionary advisory to United States citizens in December, urging them to refrain from opting for alternative routes to Puerto Peñasco until the reopening of the Lukeville Port of Entry. Sonora is currently designated as a level 3 region, where the prevalence of violent crime, kidnappings, and turf battles associated with trafficking has become the prevailing norm.
A man en route to Tempe, Arizona, to spend Christmas Eve with his son found himself inadvertently entangled in a turf war in Oquitoa, Sonora, Mexico. Despite Craig Ricketts’ extensive experience of over two decades working in Mexico, the past seven years have seen him engaged as a real estate developer in Puerto Libertad. Ricketts had initially planned to traverse the Nogales Port of Entry; however, an inadvertent redirection towards Sasabe ensued.
In an exclusive interview with AZFamily.com, Ricketts said, “That was my targeted route, intending to pass through Nogales.”
Contrary to his plans, he found himself just outside Oquitoa, Sonora, approximately an hour and a half away from Sasabe. Regrettably, he sustained two gunshot wounds during the incident— one fracturing his ankle, and the other piercing his arm. The vehicle he occupied endured an estimated barrage of 16 gunshots. Reflecting on the experience, Ricketts described the wounds, stating, “I got hit once in my arm, which feels akin to a childhood bicycle scrape, and the other in my left leg.”
The Attorney General’s office in Sonora reports that this marks the second violent incident involving a U.S. citizen within the past month.