Four dead in drug-related shooting on Mexico beach in Cancun

A shooting involving suspected drug dealers has killed four people on a beach in Mexico’s popular Caribbean resort of Cancun.

The latest outbreak of violence in the city’s hotel zone on Monday came as tourists flocked to Mexico’s Riviera Maya during the Easter holiday period.

Authorities detained two suspects who “apparently are related to drug dealing activities”, said Jose de la Pena, a security official in Quintana Roo state, where Cancun is located.

Mexico is plagued by cartel-related bloodshed that has seen more than 300,000 people killed since the government deployed the military in the so-called war on drugs in 2006.

While Quintana Roo is generally considered safer than much of the rest of the country, there has been an increase in violence linked to gang turf wars in recent years, prompting security forces to step up patrols.

In October 2021, two tourists from Germany and India were killed in a shootout between suspected gang members at a restaurant in the resort of Tulum.

The following month, two suspected drug dealers were killed in a shooting that sent tourists in swimsuits fleeing in panic from a beach near Cancun.