Thursday, April 19, 2018

CANCUN NOT ON STATE DEPARTMENT ‘DO NOT TRAVEL’ ADVISORY

14 murders in a 36-hour period as drug cartels overrun Cancun

by Chivis Martinez

Borderland Beat
April 17, 2018

Violence rocked Mexico’s most popular tourist town, leaving 14 dead and five more injured in a 36-hour span, Noticaribe reports.

The deaths and injuries were the result of six separate incidents between the morning of April 4 and the evening of April 5.

Nine people were killed on April 4 alone. One of the victims was a Canadian woman tourist who was stabbed to death.

In the past decade, the highest number of people killed in a single day in Cancun was five.

The killings are linked to organized crime.

On Tuesday, a judge ordered cartel “queenpin” Leticia Rodriguez Lara, known as “Doña Lety” to stand trial on multiple charges including drug trafficking, according to the Associated Press.

Believed to be a former police officer with ties to El Chapo, Lara’s crew allegedly mounted a bloody campaign to take control of drug sales in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

In March, the U.S. Department of State issued a “do not travel” advisory for several Mexican states citing widespread violent crime and gang activity.

Travel was not restricted to Cancun, which is in Quintana Roo state, because “homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations,” but travelers were warned that bystanders have been injured or killed in the past.

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