A commando of drug gang gunmen attacked a beach on Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast Thursday, directly in front of fancy hotels, and killed two rival gang members.
At the resort of Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancun, the startling shooting attack drove guests fleeing for safety.
It appears that the two drug dealers who were killed Thursday landed earlier that morning in front of the Azul Beach Resort and the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun, claiming the area as their own.
Quintana Roo state prosecutor Oscar Montes de Oca told Radio Formula that a battle between rival drug dealer groups occurred on a beach near the hotels.
"Approximately 15 persons gathered on the beach to execute two males who had arrived claiming to be new dealers in the area," Montes de Oca said.
Montes de Oca stated that one of the attackers retreated into one of the hotels before being assassinated. On the beach, the other was gunned down.
He further stated that one person had non-life-threatening injuries in the incident, but officials were unable to determine whether the victim was a hotel employee or a visitor because of their ongoing medical treatment.
It was the latest chapter in a saga of drug gang violence threatening Mexico's Caribbean coast's reputation as a once-peaceful haven.
Governor Carlos Joaquin disclosed the commandos donned ski masks and arrived at the beach via boat. Montes de Oca said that they fled the onslaught in a boat.
He called the killings "a major damage to the state's growth and security... jeopardizing its reputation."
During the incident, guests at the Hyatt Ziva Riviera Cancun shared videos and photographs showing vacationers cowering or nervously milling around in hotel lobby and halls.
Street-level traffickers are often killed in Mexico by competing cartels as a means of eliminating rivalry and ensuring their products are sold first. Not only has this happened before, but it isn't even the first time.
Cancun and the Mayan Riviera, which extends southward, draw millions of visitors each year and provide a significant portion of Mexico's export revenue.
Drug cartels have fought over territory and ran extortion rings in the area, therefore the area has seen a lot of bloodshed.
