Warring Mexican cartels 'wiping tourists off face of earth' as they move into resorts
Popular tourist resorts in Mexico have turned into a 'war zone' as four Mexican cartels are indiscriminately killing to assert dominance with innocent travellers becoming 'collateral damage', an expert has said
Innocent tourists have been caught up in the crossfire of warring Mexican cartels.
Visitors from around the world have become collateral damage, with some being "wiped off the face of the earth" as "the rules have changed", according to an expert. It comes as four Mexican drug cartels are reportedly murdering to assert dominance over an 80-mile stretch of resorts.
In just the last two weeks it has been reported that a number of people from the US have seen gruesome violence or been randomly targeted. A California woman was killed in the crossfire near Tulum beach, while a man from New York was abducted with his eyes taped closed and dumped in a jungle.
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Jay Armes III, a private investigator, told Fox News Digital these events are just a normal day for the people of Mexico. He said: "It’s all horrifying to us, but to people in Mexico, it’s just a Tuesday. This happens all the time all over the country."
He explained that cartels are changing the criminal rules. Previously they were said to abide by a "code similar to the Italian mob" but now "it’s happening in areas that used to be off limits."
The PI said: "In the old days, you weren’t allowed to target women or children. You weren’t allowed to encroach on another cartel’s territory. And the resorts were off limits. … Cartels wanted to fly under the radar as much as they could."
He added: "The rules have changed. All that old guard code is out the window. The resorts are open shop."
Government leaders want to protect tourism, which has been the country’s legal economic foundation for decades, with there being an estimated 66 million international visitors in 2022 alone. But Armes says even the tourist destinations are now "war zones".
He said: "Who we see as tourists are potential customers or potential victims to the cartels. Even if it’s 1% or 5% (of tourists to the resort areas), that’s millions of customers and a big chunk of business."
There are four main cartels in the area that want to monetise that business for themselves - the Sinaloa Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, the Jalisco New Generation Cartel and the Grupo Regional, a smaller gang created by the now defunct group Los Zetas.
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