Cancun Tourists Flee Beach as Gunmen Storm It, Shooting

Armed drug gang storms beach near luxury hotels
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Nov 5, 2021 12:45 AM CDT
Cancun Tourists Run From Beach as Gunmen Storm It, Shooting
Government forces guard the entrance of hotel after an armed confrontation near Puerto Morelos, Mexico, Thursday, November 4, 2021.   (AP Photo/Kerim Torres)

On Thursday gunmen stormed ashore at a beach on Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast and executed two drug dealers from a rival gang in front of luxury hotels. The dramatic shooting attack sent tourists scrambling for cover at the resort of Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun, the AP reports. The two suspected drug dealers killed Thursday had apparently arrived at the beach in front of the Azul Beach Resort and the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun earlier in the day, claiming it was now their territory. "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 head prosecutor of Quintana Roo state, Oscar Montes de Oca, told the Radio Formula station.

Several cartels are fighting for the area’s lucrative retail drug trade, including the Jalisco cartel and the a gang allied with the Gulf cartel. Montes de Oca said one of the men targeted in the attack fled into one of the hotels before dying. The other was killed on the beach. He also said one person suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the attack, but authorities could not determine whether that person was a hotel employee or a guest because they were still undergoing medical treatment. Gov. Carlos Joaquin said the commandos wore ski masks and arrived by boat at the beach. Montes de Oca said they fled in a boat after the attack.

The shootings were the latest chapter in drug gang violence that has sullied the reputation of Mexico’s Caribbean coast as a once-tranquil oasis. Guests at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun posted videos and photos of tourists hiding. Guest Mike Sington tweeted, "Guests are telling me they were playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran from beach and swimming pools. Staff hustled us into hidden rooms behind the kitchens." Just two weeks ago, a Californian travel blogger and a German tourist were killed when they were caught in the crossfire during a shootout between drug dealers at a restaurant in the nearby beach resort of Tulum. (More Mexico stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X