Drug Turf War Hits Mexico
The tourist haven of Cancun, on Mexico's Caribbean coast, is being shaken by a turf war between two drug cartels.
The tourist haven of Cancun, on Mexico's Caribbean coast, is being shaken by a turf war between two drug cartels.
According to law enforcement officials, drug traffickers are competing to control routes for shipping Colombian cocaine north towards the US market. It is alleged that police may have been trying to assist them.
The violence came to a head last week when, during one day, four bodies were discovered in a burnt-out car, and five other people were shot in the head, among them three agents from a branch of the Mexican equivalent of the FBI.
This week federal prosecutors from the capital seized control of the branch, with the help of the army, sacked its top official and arrested eight other agents and a local police chief.
Neither drug trafficking nor drug-related corruption is new to Cancun, but such crime has not bubbled to the surface so dramatically since the 90s.
The authorities say two organisations are trying to return the region to lawlessness, sending hit squads in to eliminate the competition.
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who three years ago escaped from prison in a laundry basket, reportedly controls one of the gangs. His rival appears to be the Gulf cartel, which reportedly is controlled by its long-time chief, Osiel Cardenas, who was jailed last year.
According to law enforcement officials, drug traffickers are competing to control routes for shipping Colombian cocaine north towards the US market. It is alleged that police may have been trying to assist them.
The violence came to a head last week when, during one day, four bodies were discovered in a burnt-out car, and five other people were shot in the head, among them three agents from a branch of the Mexican equivalent of the FBI.
This week federal prosecutors from the capital seized control of the branch, with the help of the army, sacked its top official and arrested eight other agents and a local police chief.
Neither drug trafficking nor drug-related corruption is new to Cancun, but such crime has not bubbled to the surface so dramatically since the 90s.
The authorities say two organisations are trying to return the region to lawlessness, sending hit squads in to eliminate the competition.
Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who three years ago escaped from prison in a laundry basket, reportedly controls one of the gangs. His rival appears to be the Gulf cartel, which reportedly is controlled by its long-time chief, Osiel Cardenas, who was jailed last year.
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