Mexican authorities are investigating the broad daylight shooting of a man outside a luxury beach resort in Cancun, in what prosecutors described as a “targeted attack.”
The Quintana Roo state prosecutor’s office in Cancun wrote that the man, a Mexican national, was killed after two people approached him in Cancun’s hotel zone and shot him to death. press release.
A blurry photo of the crime scene he posted Riviera Maya News The man’s body appears lying on the sand. Witnesses told police that the two suspects approached the man on the beach, shot him several times, then boarded jet skis and fled.
The authorities did not reveal the identity of the deceased man.
A spokesperson for RIU Hotels and Resorts told Global News that the incident occurred in front of the Riu Palace Las Americas hotel. The hotel chain said the man killed was neither a guest nor an employee, and that no guests or employees were harmed in the shooting.
Prosecutors later revealed that the man who was killed may have been involved in an earlier shooting incident in Cancun’s hotel district, and that the crimes could be linked to drug trafficking.
On July 28, a minor was shot and killed in the same area. Authorities believe the man who was shot and killed on Wednesday was one of two suspects who arrived at the beach on a motorcycle, shot the child, and then fled the scene.
“The now deceased was allegedly riding the jet ski,” prosecutors wrote that day.
Get breaking national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered to you right as they happen.
The Associated Press reported at the time that A 12-year-old boy was killed On a beach in Cancun after being caught in the middle of a dispute between rival drug dealers. The boy was a local resident and was with his family on the beach when he was apparently hit by a stray bullet. He later died in hospital.
The child’s murder may also be linked to a previous crime, the July 1 bus shooting. Prosecutors say Two people were killed on a bus traveling on Kukulkan Avenue, the main road that runs through Cancun’s hotel district.
After the shooting on Wednesday, multiple agencies responded to the scene, including the Navy, Army personnel, National Guard and municipal police.
RIU Hotels said staff on the ground “immediately activated security and emergency protocols, and worked closely with municipal and state authorities to provide timely care to the infected person.”
The hotel chain also affirmed its “commitment to the safety and well-being of our guests, employees and the community.”
Territorial disputes between drug traffickers It has cost the lives of many tourists At resorts along Mexico’s Caribbean coast in recent years.
In 2022, two Canadians were murdered in Playa del Carmen, south of Cancun, apparently over debts between international drug and arms trafficking gangs.
In 2021, further south in Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and a German national — were killed when they were apparently caught in a shootout between rival drug dealers.
the The Government of Canada does not have a permanent state of alert for the Quintana Roo region, where Cancun is located, but warns that all travelers to Mexico should “exercise a high degree of caution.”
“There are high rates of violent crimes, such as homicides, kidnappings, carjackings and assaults, including in popular tourist destinations such as the Mayan Riviera (Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Tulum), and Acapulco,” the warning states.
“Criminal groups and drug gangs are present in tourist areas. Fighting occurred between gangs and gangs in restaurants, hotels and nightclubs frequented by tourists.
—With files from The Associated Press
&Copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
