MEXICO CITY — Two presumed drug dealers were killed in a shootout on a beach in the Riviera Maya, sending bystanders from nearby luxury hotels running for cover, the latest sign that violence is escalating across Mexico’s most coveted resorts.
No one else was seriously wounded, officials from Quintana Roo state said Thursday on Twitter, signaling that there may have been mild injuries that have yet to be reported. Videos uploaded to social media showed tourists in their bathing suits being evacuated or huddled underground at hotels near the shooting in Bahia Petempich, which is only about half hour from the center of Cancun.
The deadly gunfire comes just days after Mexico stationed 450 troops in nearby Tulum where two foreign tourists were killed in another drug-related shooting at the resort popular with celebrities. Cancun and beaches just south of the top tourist spot have been hit by violence in recent years as groups war over drug dealing and trafficking territory.
The Quintana Roo state, which encompasses a strip of beach resorts including Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, received 6 million tourists between foreigners and locals this year through July.
