Four Slain at Mexican Beach Resort as Wave of Violence Soars

MEXICO CITY – Two people were gunned down at a nightclub in Acapulco and the mutilated bodies of two men were found on the city’s outskirts as the wave of violence continued in this beach resort in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero.

A man and a woman were killed during the attack at Acapulco’s Majesty night spot this Thursday, just a short distance from the heavily policed Avenida Costera thoroughfare, local media said.

The victims were a waiter and a dancer, whose names have not been revealed.

Meanwhile two men and two women, between workers at the club and customers, were wounded in the nightclub shooting and were taken in critical condition to various hospitals in the area.

According to a Federal Police report, the assailants were two young men who entered the establishment bearing arms and opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd, then left without being caught.

The street where the club is located and which has about 10 night spots, bars and restaurants, has been the scene of several attacks by gunmen in recent months.

Then as dawn approached Friday morning, the bodies of two men were found on the outskirts of the city, one of them decapitated and the other with his arms cut off and left a short distance away.

The head of the first victim was found some 3 kilometers (2 miles) away, along with a threatening message, the press reported.

So far this year in Acapulco, 221 people have been murdered, presumably the work of organized crime, according to an article in the daily El Sur.

Though Acapulco is one of the busiest Mexican resorts during Holy Week, the crowds of tourists have not been sufficient to halt the scourge of violence in this Pacific Coast municipality, which is in stark contrast to the image publicized by the authorities.

According to the Guerrero Tourism Secretariat, the hotel occupancy rate this Friday reached some 90 percent in Acapulco, where the homicide rate stands at 104 for every 100,000 inhabitants.

Acapulco has become, according to a recent study by the NGO Citizen’s Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, the third most violent city in the world.

Federal Police Commissioner Enrique Galindo said this Friday that during the Holy Week vacations, the tourist destinations in the country are guarded by more than 8,000 officers.

The commissioner said the close watch being kept by Federal Police on Acapulco has been boosted by an additional 1,400 men in uniform.