Two Canadians killed and another injured in a shooting in Mexico City

Two Canadians were killed and another was injured in a shooting at a resort near Cancun, Mexican authorities reported Friday.

The attack happened at the Xcaret hotel complex when a Canadian-born man shot his three victims.

They had a criminal record in Canada, in cases related to theft, drugs and weapons, according to Canadian authorities, cited by the prosecution.

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In November 2021, two suspected drug traffickers died after shooting each other on a beach at a nearby Cancun hotel.

In October, another shooting between suspected drug traffickers killed two tourists, a German and an Indian, in Tulum, a seaside resort near the area.

Crime-related violence, including drug retailing, has plagued the Mexican Caribbean for years.

These incidents have led European countries and the United States to alert their citizens to the risks of visiting the Mexican Caribbean, among the world's top beach destinations.

Tourism represents 8.5% of Mexico's GDP and is the main economic activity in the southeast of the country.

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Mexico recorded more than 33,000 murders in 2021, a figure slightly lower than the more than 34,500 murders in 2020. Since December 2006, when the federal government launched a controversial military operation against drugs, more than 300,000 violent deaths have been counted in Mexico, according to the authorities, who attribute most of the murders to organized crime.