Thread: In Mexico, 13 Killed in Acapulco Area, 11 Others Elsewhere

In Mexico, 13 killed in Acapulco area, 11 others elsewhere in Guerrero

Five police officers are slain and the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men are found in Acapulco just as foreign tourists are arriving for spring break.

A local police car is seen with two bullet holes in Acapulco. (Pedro Pardo, AFP/Getty Images / March 13, 2010)

Reporting from Mexico City

At least 13 people were killed Saturday, some of them beheaded, around the popular beach resort of Acapulco, just as foreign visitors have begun arriving for spring break.

Elsewhere in the Guerrero state where Acapulco is located, 11 other people, including soldiers and suspected traffickers, were killed, authorities said.

The dead in Acapulco included five police officers, authorities said, who were ambushed while on patrol on the city's outskirts about 2 a.m.

Over the next four hours, the bullet-riddled bodies of eight men were discovered in three locations, police said. Four had been beheaded, in the style typical of drug traffickers who have been at war with one another and with government forces for three years.

The government is especially sensitive to reports of drug-war violence in tourist destinations such as Acapulco and Cancun. But no region is immune. Guerrero state is one of Mexico's most violent: Its position on the Pacific coast makes it a prime transit route for smuggling narcotics to the U.S. and coveted turf for warring cartels.

In June, as Acapulco was putting its hopes on a recovering tourist industry, 18 gunmen and soldiers were killed in battles one weekend in one of the city's seaside neighborhoods.

News channels have been showing video of young U.S., Canadian and European tourists already frolicking on the beaches of Acapulco, as if to say "maybe this year" and convey a sense of normality. And this weekend is a holiday; thousands of Mexican tourists were headed to Acapulco to take advantage of a three-day weekend marking the birthday of 19th century President Benito Juarez.

Heriberto Salinas Altes, head of public security for Guerrero, said authorities were expecting an increase in violence because of newly exploded power struggles among drug gangs.

"We wish to say that security for visitors [to Acapulco] as well as for people who live here is guaranteed," Salinas told La Jornada newspaper.

More than 18,000 people have been killed in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon deployed the army to battle cartels in December 2006.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation-and- ... 9087.story

wilkinson@latimes.com

A local police car is seen with two bullet holes in Acapulco. (Pedro Pardo, AFP/Getty Images / March 13, 2010)

Mexico sounds like a nice place to spend spring break!

Dixie

Originally Posted by Dixie

Mexico sounds like a nice place to spend spring break!

Dixie

Ya really. Maybe people should reconsider Ft. Lauderdale.

The gang they mention The Zetas are in Texas. There has been numerous showings on the Zetas on Gangland. That show is like a docmentary on various gangs in this country and their counterparts in other countries.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/20 ... 66-ap.html

24 killed in southwestern Mexican state
Last Updated: March 14, 2010 10:39am
.ACAPULCO, Mexico — A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.

The gunbattle erupted when attackers opened fire on soldiers patrolling the small town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, said Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police. Ten gunmen and one soldier were killed, he said.

Diaz said the shootout broke out in the middle of the day in the centre of the town as it was full of bystanders. He said state police were investigating and soldiers had reinforced security.

President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives.

Thirteen other people were killed in Guerrero in several other incidents before dawn, according to a state police report.

Two decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco. Another man was found shot to death on the edge of the city.

Gunmen, meanwhile, killed five police officers on patrol in Tuncingo, a rural area outside Acapulco. In the same area, police found the bullet-ridden bodies of five other men, including two who had been beheaded.

Police mentioned no possible motives, and it was unclear if the killings were related.

Several cartels are fighting over drug dealing turf and trafficking routes in Guerrero. Gang violence occurs almost every day in the state, but Saturday was unusually bloody.

Farther to the south in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, a grenade explosion inside a car killed one man and wounded another. State prosecutors said the dead man was holding the weapon when it exploded.

Investigators believe the victim belonged to the Zetas drug gang and had been about to throw the grenade at federal police offices in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez. 19:46ET 13-03-10