Once more, a group of gunmen pulled up to a bar in Cancun and fired several shots, killing one employee inside. The attack is the latest of its kind in a growing trend in the popular tourist destination, where criminal organizations carry out shooting attacks as part of an extortion operation, and a way to control the street-level sale of narcotics at those establishments.
The shooting took place at the Royal Eagle (Aguila Real) bar in the central part of the city, near the 219 Region. According to the local news outlet Noticaribe, a group of gunmen on motorbikes pulled up to the bar and immediately began firing inside. The group left promptly and managed to escape before the authorities arrived.
The attack only injured one person, who was described as an employee who was part of the cleaning crew. After the attack, relatives of the employee who were also at the bar did not wait for emergency crews and rushed him to a local hospital. However, the victim died shortly after arrival despite attempts to save him.
The bar is not in the tourist area of Cancun. It is near some of the city’s main avenues. According to Noticaribe, the bar has been attacked three times before in recent months. While authorities have remained tight-lipped about the crime in Cancun, and government officials try to push an image of safety and fun, the region continues to be controlled by criminal organizations.
As Breitbart Texas has reported, Cancun has seen a wave of violence as rival cartel-connected criminal organizations carry out attacks as a way to pressure bar owners to pay protection fees and only sell narcotics from them.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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