MEXICO CITY (AP) — An American tourist was shot in the leg by unidentified assailants at a tourist destination on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, Quintana Roo state prosecutors said Tuesday.
The incident occurred in the town of Puerto Morelos, located south of Cancun.
Several suspects approached the American around midnight Monday and shot him in the leg, prosecutors said. The motive remains under investigation.
The injured American was taken to a Cancun hospital for medical attention, and his injury did not appear to be life-threatening.
The US Department of State issued a travel advisory a week ago warning US travelers to “take greater precautions,” especially after dark, in tourist destinations on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug cartel violence in the past.
In recent years there have been several acts of violence on the Caribbean coast, which is the most important area for the tourist industry in Mexico.
In 2022, two Canadians were murdered in Playa del Carmen, apparently for debts between international drug organizations and arms trafficking.
And in 2021, two tourists, an Indian-California born tourism blogger and a German, were killed in Tulum when they were apparently caught in the crossfire of a standoff between rival drug traffickers.
Source: San Diego Union Tribune
