BISBEE — The State Department released a report earlier this week on non-natural death cases of U.S. citizens abroad that shows 128 Americans were murdered in Mexico from Jan. 1, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2007.

Mexican officials, however, point out that 128 murders over the course of three years is a relatively small number, and they say Mexico is a safe place for Americans.

Some of the most common locations for the murders were along the U.S.-Mexico border, in places such as Tijuana in the state of Baja California, Nuevo Laredo in the state of Tamaulipas, and Ciudad Juarez in the state of Chihuahua.

Only five of the murders took place in the state of Sonora, including one on Oct. 31, 2005, in Bahio Kino, one on March 10, 2007, in San Luis Rio Colorado, two on June 24, 2007, in Magdalena, and one on Oct. 20, 2007, in Nogales.

Sonora is the Mexican state directly across the border from Cochise County.

The report says the figures should not be considered a statistically complete account because they only include deaths that were reported to the State Department.

The U.S. Department of State issued a travel alert for Mexico on April 14 and it is still in effect. It says violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border.

“Attacks are aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, Mexican police forces, criminal justice officials and journalists,” the alert states. “However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region.”

The Mexican government has deployed military troops in various parts of the country in an effort to combat violence. The U.S. State Department urges Americans to cooperate with official checkpoints when traveling on Mexican highways.

During an interview, Oscar De la Torre, Mexican Consul in Douglas, pointed out that a large number of Americans live in Mexico and they feel safe and welcome there.

“We share with the American government the concern to maintain the safest way for any visitor to our country, but these kinds of incidents happen all over the world,” he said. “We are very sorry to the relatives of these people involved, but, relatively speaking, it is very safe to go to Mexico.”

In fact, according to the U.S. Department of State, thousands of U.S. citizens cross the border safely each day, exercising common-sense precautions such as only visiting legitimate businesses and tourist areas of border towns during daylight hours.

“Criminals have followed and harassed U.S. citizens traveling in their vehicles, particularly in border areas, including Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and Tijuana. There is no evidence, however, that U.S. citizens are targeted because of their nationality,” the alert states.