Mexico: Two killed in armed clash between alleged drug gangs near Cancun resorts

Two suspected drug dealers were reported dead in a shooting involving rival gangs on a beach near Mexico's Caribbean resort destination of Cancun on Thursday, November 4. The incident further sparked panic among foreign visitors. This is the second clash observed in Mexico's Riviera Maya region in recent weeks, further affecting the tourism industry, which is on the verge of recovering amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The Quintana Roo state attorney general's office tweeted that on a beach in Bahia Petempich, Puerto Morelos, there was a confrontation between members of opposing groups of drug dealers.

As per the AP report, Oscar Montes de Oca, the head prosecutor of Quintana Roo state, told the Radio Formula station, “About 15 people arrived on the beach to assassinate two men who had showed up saying they were the new dealers in the area". 

The Quintana Roo public security department reported that no tourists were seriously injured or kidnapped during the clash. 

Mexico drug gangs attack

As per the AP report, Montes de Oca said, "One of the men targeted in the attack fled into one of the hotels before dying while the other was killed on the beach". In addition, one unidentified person is suffering from non-life-threatening wounds and is under medical treatment. The person injured in the attack might be a hotel employee or a guest. Gov. Carlos Joaquin informed that the commando arrived by boat at the beach, wearing ski masks, and later fled in the same boat after the attack. He said, "The attack is a serious blow to the development and security of the state, putting the image of the state at grave risk". 

Describing the shootout, Mike Sington, a tourist from the United States staying at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun Resort, tweeted, "Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun".

Earlier on October 20, a 29-year-old California-based Indian-origin travel blogger was killed in a shootout between two drug gangs in the Caribbean coast resort of Tulum. Anjali Ryot was in Mexico with her husband Utkarsh Shrivastava to celebrate her birthday but unfortunately, she was shot dead along with two other foreign tourists. 

Image: AP