Mexico: German tourist dies in a shootout between drug gangs

Mexican policeman (symbol image)

Photo: JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ / REUTERS

In the bloody clashes between the members of the Mexican drug cartels, bystanders are repeatedly harmed.

In a recent case, two women from Germany and India were killed in a shootout in a bar in the holiday resort of Tulum.

Two men from Germany and a woman from the Netherlands were injured, as the Attorney General of the State of Quintana Roo told the dpa news agency on Thursday when asked.

Two rival drug gangs shot at each other in the La Malquerida bar on Thursday night (local time).

The authorities contacted the relevant consulates, as the Public Prosecutor General said.

One of the victims died on site, the second woman later died in hospital from her injuries.

The police have initiated an investigation and a search for the perpetrators.

A perpetrator was later found injured in a hospital.

Tulum, south of Cancun, is a popular vacation destination on the Caribbean coast.

Beautiful beaches, archaeological sites and parties attract tourists from all over the world.

However, drug trafficking-related violence does occur again and again.

In addition, various cartels are involved in protection racket in the region.

Hundreds of thousands have died in the drug war so far

In Mexico, where around 126 million people live, an average of more than 80 murders a day are registered according to the latest figures - in Germany there were 245 in the entire past year. Most of the crimes are never resolved.

The government has been using federal troops to fight the cartels since 2006, and more than 300,000 people have been murdered since then.

The sporadic seizures by the authorities show what quantities of drugs the various gangs are handling.

It must be assumed that these only intercept a fraction of the actual drug transfers - nevertheless, the amounts discovered are considerable.

The last time the Navy seized drugs worth millions in early February.

That emerged from a communication from the Mexican public prosecutor's office.

According to this, 2.5 tons of methamphetamine and 100,000 fentanyl pills were seized.

jok / dpa