Cancun gang violence mobilizes Mexican National Guard

The Mexican armed forces are activating as much as 1,500 National Guardsmen to Cancun amidst a surge of violence erupting in the Quintana Roo state of the country. 

President Manuel Lopez Obrador gave a press conference Wednesday after two tourists were killed in the resort of Tulum as the result of getting caught in the midst of gang crossfire. An earlier Nov. 5 gang violence incident at a Puerto Morales’s beach resort south of Cancun prompted the government to shelter tourists at other hotels. 

On Oct. 20, rival gang gunfire at a restaurant also killed a German man and Indian woman with three others wounded. Prosecutors said in a statement the rivalry was between two organizations competing for local street-level drug territory. Several drug cartels conduct drug sales in the Quintana Roo state because of high level of tourism. 

“One woman died at the scene and the other in a hospital,” the Associated Press reported in October. “One of the aggressors, who was also wounded, was subsequently arrested. There was no immediate word on the condition of the wounded tourists.”

The mobilized National Guard troops will have indefinite orders to remain in the area to develop intelligence and protect tourists, Reuters reported. 

This should come as no surprise as Lopez Obrador has pledged to build a new airport and train station in the area to increase tourism. The Mexican National Guard is also a new entity created since Lopez Obrador’s 2018 political big for office. 

“Violence linked to drug cartels is blamed for thousands of murders in Mexico every year,” Reuters reported. “As of September, 21,495 people had died from gang-related violence this year, an average of almost 2,400 per month…”

“According to the Associated Press report, “Corruption has also been a problem, and on Thursday federal health authorities said they were removing state officials from their duties in inspecting medical facilities after it emerged that state inspectors had been shaking down firms that run COVID-19 testing sites and labs for bribes.”