british tourist killed in mexico

British businessman victim of execution-style hit in Mexican tourist zone

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Brit killed in front of teen daughter in ‘targeted’ mexican ambush.

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A British businessman was gunned down in front of his 14-year-old daughter over the weekend in what Mexican authorities are calling “a targeted attack.”

Chris Cleave, a 54-year-old real estate agent from Cornwall, was shot dead in Cancun Saturday as he drove through the tourist hot spot with his teen daughter, according to a report by the Daily Mail .

Authorities said the gunmen fled the scene on a motorcycle but were later captured by police.

Cops said the killers had followed Cleave, who has lived in Mexico for nearly a decade after relocating from the UK, after he left his home that morning, the Mail reported.

“This was not a random shooting, but a targetted attack,” a police source told the outlet. “He was chosen to be murdered.”

Police have yet to pin down a motive for the deadly attack, but investigators are probing an ominous message left by narcotraffickers earlier this month, threatening the owners of a local upscale restaurant.

In the message, the gang, which allegedly sought to sell drugs at the eatery, wrote, “We are coming for you.” The note ended with, “Also for you Cris, with the red Audi.”

Police said there is no indication that Cleave, who was driving a red Audi when he was gunned down, was in any way involved in the drug trade.

His daughter was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries, the Mail said.

The accused killers have only been identified by police as Jose N., 30, and Lenin N., 18.

Word of the businessman’s violent death stunned his friends.

“I am shocked, gutted and deeply disturbed by this horrible, horrible news,” pal Kristen Amrhein wrote on Cleave’s Facebook page on Sunday.

“You were the highlights of my trip to Playa and I will miss you, my friend,” Amrhein wrote. I always looked forward to our funny exchanges and it was my privilege to have known you. My deepest condolences to your family and your dearest, Chloe.”

Cleave’s last post was on March 9 commemorating his daughter’s birthday.

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EXCLUSIVE British businessman is shot dead in front of his daughter, 14, in Mexico: Estate agent, 54, from Cornwall is gunned down in 'targeted attack' after his car was ambushed in Cancun by two men on motorbikes

• Chris Cleave, 54, was shot dead in front of his daughter, 14, in Cancun, Mexico
• The British businessman was approached by two men while he was on highway
• His daughter was taken to hospital and treated for shock and minor injuries 
• His brother Nick said the family was trying to come to terms with his death  

By Paul Thompson and Ben Ashford and Gerard Couzens for MailOnline

Published: 08:29 EDT, 13 March 2022 | Updated: 15:52 EDT, 13 March 2022

View comments

Police have named and pictured the two men who carried out the execution style killing of businessman Chris Cleave in front of his teenage daughter.

They were named as 30-year-old Jose N and 18-year-old Lenin N.

The murder weapon was also recovered after police chased the pair as they fled on a motorbike.

Police in Cancun said one of the men tried to flee after jumping from the motorbike and was arrested hiding in undergrowth while the other continued on the motorbike to try and evade police.

Police released their photographs but as yet have not given a motive for the murder. 

Cleave was driving though the city of Cancun when two men ambushed him at the popular tourist resort.

The killers opened fire through the driver's side window, hitting the 54-year-old (pictured) in the head and killing him instantly

The killers opened fire through the driver's side window, hitting the 54-year-old in the head and killing him instantly.

His 14-year-old daughter was not hit but taken to hospital and treated for shock and minor injuries.

The two killers were later captured by police as they fled on a motorcycle.

Mr Cleave, who is originally from Truro, Cornwall, had lived in Mexico for more than a decade.

He became a permanent resident in 2013 and worked as an estate agent and property manager, according to police.

Mr Cleave's older brother Nick, who runs a watersports company in Falmouth, Cornwall, today told The Sun : 'We still can’t believe what has happened to Chris.

'We are all just trying to come to terms with his death and all we want to do now is gather the family around so that we can protect our elderly mother. 

'The family won’t be making any further statement at the moment and we would like to be able to grieve in private.' 

The state of Quintana Roo, which includes the resort of Cancun, has been the focus of increasing violence among drug cartels as they battle for control.

Police have named and pictured the two men who carried out the execution style killing of businessman Chris Cleave in front of his teenage daughter

There is no suggestion that Cleave was involved in drugs, but police are carrying out an investigation into why he was the subject of an execution style killing.

A police source said: 'This was not a random shooting but a targeted attack. He was chosen to be murdered.'

Local reports said a man thought to be Mr Cleave was threatened earlier this month along with two other men in a so-called narcomanta, a message left by a local drug cartel on a cloth banner, in an upmarket beach area of Playa del Carmen called Playacar. 

The message, written in Spanish and removed by the police soon after it appeared on March 5, said: 'This is for you [two names redacted] from Playacar, with Range Rover and Porsche cars and the secret partners of [local restaurant name].

'We are coming for you and the sale of your s**t. Also for you Cris, with the red Audi.'

Unconfirmed local reports at the time said the mystery men behind the intimidatory message wanted to sell their drugs there.

Local prosecutors confirmed two arrests had been made over the killing. There is no suggestion at this stage any illegal activity takes place at the restaurant referred to in the message.

A spokesman for Quintana Roo's State Prosecution Service said: 'We can confirm the arrest of two men who probably participated in the incident that took place on Saturday morning in which a foreigner living in the area lost his life.

'The weapon that was used has been recovered.' 

He is believed to have been followed as he left his home before being assassinated as he stopped in traffic.

Shocked friends of Cleave, pictured, who ran a property management company, expressed their grief at his murder on his Facebook page

Police said Cleave and his daughter were on the main federal highway in Playa del Carmen in a red Audi when the car was approached by two men on a motorbike while stopped in traffic.

Witnesses said the men opened fire though the open window, killing Cleave instantly.

His daughter was taken to the local hospital where she was treated for minor injuries. Local police said none of her injuries were life threatening.

The shooting took place at 9.30am on Saturday and police believe the killers had been following Cleave as he left his home.

When his car stopped in traffic they pounced and opened fire.

The killers sped away but were chased along the main Federal Highway by police and arrested.

Police said Cleave and his daughter were on the main federal highway in Playa del Carmen in a red Audi (pictured) when the car was approached by two men

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On his Facebook page Cleave said he graduated from Penair Secondary School in 1986.

Shocked friends of Cleave, who ran a property management company, expressed their grief at his murder on his Facebook page.

Sue Steggles wrote: 'So very sad to have lost you Chris Cleave you were one of the good guys and taken far too young.

'I will look back on our Saturday nights with fondness, you were a big part of our life for such a long time.'

Posting photos of a fishing trip they shared, John Archer wrote: 'RIP this is the saddest news I have ever heard in my life.

There is no suggestion that Cleave (pictured) was involved in drugs, but police are carrying out an investigation into why he was the subject of an execution style killing 

'You will always be remembered as an amazing person with many friends that admired and loved you.'

Four days before being murdered Cleave had posted photos on his Facebook page celebrating his daughter's 14th birthday.

The city of Cancun has long been a favourite for American 'spring breakers' but is also increasingly popular with British tourists.

But in the last year violence among drug cartels has spiraled out of control

In November 2021, a shootout between rival gangs resulted in the killing of two gangsters on a Cancun tourist beach.

Two weeks before that an American and German tourist were caught in the crossfire of a gang battle in Tulum and shot dead.

According to Mexico's public security service, between January and September 2021, the murder rate rose 80 per cent from the same period in the previous year.

In response to the violence, the Mexican government announced that the National Guard will deploy 1500 soldier to protect the tourist areas of Quintana Roo as part of the newly formed Tourist Security Battalion.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said the region's recent violence cannot be repeated while stating that the new battalion's presence would be permanent, and its role would focus on intelligence work.  

On his Facebook page Cleave, pictured, said he graduated from Penair Secondary School in 1986

Last month two men were shot dead and a third injured at a popular tourist restaurant in the area.

A group of gunmen opened fire in an attack at Art Beach restaurant at the entrance to the hotel zone in the Mayan Riviera resort of Tulum a 50-minute drive south of Playa del Carmen, where the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Demi Moore and Sting have holidayed.

Survivors dining at the upmarket eatery, which mixes food with live music, reported hearing at least 20 gunshots.

The incident occurred less than a month after two Canadians were gunned down and a third was wounded in a hotel in Playa del Carmen south of Cancun on the same coastline.

The victims of the January 21 shooting at the luxury Hotel Xcaret in Playa del Carmen were part of a group of 10 tourists who had traveled to Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula to spend their vacations at the five-star establishment.

Local prosecutors later identified the two 34-year-old men killed as convicted criminals in Canada and said they believed debts arising from the criminal activities they were involved in were likely to have been behind the attack on them.

They have been named as Robert James Dinh and Thomas Cheruka.

Two people including a Mexican hitman initially hired to kill the victims have been arrested.

• Devastated brother of Brit businessman shot dead in Cancun says family are in ‘disbelief’ over execution-style killing

Share or comment on this article: EXCLUSIVE British businessman is shot dead in front of his daughter, 14, in Mexico

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Two killed in explosion at Mexican resort where British dad was shot dead in front of daughter

Restaurant staffers killed in blast prompted by kitchen gas leak, article bookmarked.

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A kitchen gas leak at a Mexican resort led to an explosion that killed two and injured at least 21 people.

The explosion occurred at around 1.30pm on Monday – less than 48 hours after a British businessman was shot dead at the resort in front of his 14-year-old daughter on Saturday.

Mexican authorities said two restaurant employees were killed at Kool Beach in Playa del Carmen , south Cancun . Four of those who were injured were foreigners.

Municipal president Lili Campos noted that the two people that were killed couldn’t be removed because of the risk that the building may collapse.

The 21 people injured were taken to hospitals at the resort.

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The Quintana Roo prosecutor’s office tweeted: “The two people who have lost their lives in the explosion at the restaurant in Solidaridad have been identified. Both are males and were workers at the restaurant.”

The office added that eight of those taken to hospitals “have now been allowed to leave. Following on from earlier communications, the cause of the explosion was from a gas leak”.

The identities of those who were injured have not been released. Local media published footage of injured people being carried away on stretchers as visitors on the beach ran for safety.

A spokesman for the regional prosecutor said, “we have launched an inquiry into the explosion caused by a gas leak in the kitchen of a restaurant in the beach area in the municipality of Solidaridad”.

British businessman Chris Cleave was killed at the resort on Saturday when two men on a motorbike shot him close to his home in front of his teenage daughter, according to the Mirror. Mr Cleave, 54, was shot in his vehicle while he was in traffic.

Ahead of the murder, the real estate agent from Cornwall had been threatened by a drug cartel.

There has been a number of recent instances of deadly violence at the resort, with a bar manager from Argentina being shot twice in the head, in addition to two Canadians who were killed during a January shootout.

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British businessman is shot to death in front of his 14-year-old daughter in Playa del Carmen

A British businessman living in Mexico was killed in front of his teenage daughter by gunmen who opened fire on his car near the popular tourist destination Playa del Carmen, according to a state government source and local media.

The victim of the deadly attack on Saturday was Chris Cleave, 54, the source said. Cleave, a permanent resident of Mexico since 2013, was driving on a highway near Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo state when his car was approached by two gunmen who opened fire. His daughter suffered minor, non-life-threatening injuries.

The teenager ,  Chloé Cleave , who was  injured in the gunshot attack  that caused the instant  death of her beloved father ,  Chris Cleave , was reported out of danger when she was driving in her vehicle along one of the avenues of this beach town.

At about 10:00 in the morning,  Chris Cleave  was dedicated to renting  apartments and  houses  to tourists , a lover of diving and healthy food, according to his friends, he was driving a red  Audi-type sports car, when upon arriving at On Xcalacoco Avenue , he was  paired with motorcycle gunmen , who  shot him repeatedly .

49-year-old Chris Cleave , who has lived in this city for years, died instantly on the spot, while  his only daughter sustained injuries that warranted his transfer to a hospital .

The  girl , who just three days ago celebrated her 14th birthday with her father, was transferred to  the Galenia hospital in Cancun  where she was reported out of danger just a few hours after the  attack , according to a family friend.

Three days ago  Chris  and  Chloé  happily celebrated the birthday of the young girl, who was her adoration and whose custody she had barely achieved three months ago, after a complicated battle with her  ex-partner Mónica , daughter of one of the  Riu partners .

Two suspects were arrested later Saturday on suspicion of participation in the killing, the prosecutor’s office of Quintana Roo said. A gun that may have been used was found in their possession at the time of the arrest, the office said.

The prosecutor’s office and local police did not respond to requests for further information or confirmation of Cleave’s identity on Sunday.

In a statement, the British embassy said, “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Mexico and is in touch with the Mexican police/local authorities.”

The embassy did not confirm his identity.

Cleave was a businessman who worked in real estate and had recently been threatened by a local gang, according to local media reports. A Facebook page in his name showed dozens of messages from friends on Sunday, expressing shock at the news of his death.

Mexico’s government stationed National Guard troops in Quintana Roo late last year in response to a rise in violence linked to organized crime, including gunfights that killed two foreign tourists and a beachfront gang slaying that sent hotel guests fleeing for their lives.

Organized crime groups intensified a fight for control of drug sales, extortion, and human trafficking, which has Quintana Roo on alert.

Cancun has always been a tourist destination for Americans on ‘Spring Break’, but it has become increasingly popular with British tourists and Instagram influencers.

Just in January, Federico Mazzoni, manager of the Mamita’s beach club in Playa del Carmen, was executed.

But the violence has spread to the area, with rival gangs regularly attacking each other.

Gang members launched a violent shootout in November last year at a tourist beach, in which two gang members were killed.

Two weeks before that incident, two tourists were caught in the crossfire of a gang battle in Tulum.

The German and American visitors were shot dead after being caught up in the violent incident.

The Cancun Post

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Four found dead in Mexico’s Cancún beach resort

No immediate information on nationalities or identities in latest violence to hit popular holiday destination

Four dead bodies have been found near a beach in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, in the latest incident of violence to hit the popular holiday destination.

There was no immediate information on the nationalities or identities of the victims. The announcement of the deaths came less that a week after a US tourist was shot in the leg in the nearby town of Puerto Morelos.

Prosecutors originally said three bodies were found on Monday in a lot near one of Cancún’s beachside hotels along the Kukulkan Boulevard. They then added that a fourth body was found in the undergrowth on the same lot, bringing to four the number of victims.

Prosecutors in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said two suspects had been detained in the killings. They said the deaths were under investigation, but did not give a cause of death.

Last week in Puerto Morelos, a US tourist was approached by several suspects, and they shot him in the leg. The motive remains under investigation. The wounded man was taken to a hospital in Cancún for treatment, and his injury was judged to be not life-threatening.

The US state department issued a travel alert earlier this month warning travelers to “exercise increased caution”, especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancún, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past.

Cancún and the Mayan Riviera to its south, are the crown jewels of Mexico’s tourism industry, attracting millions of tourists each year.

But the region has been plagued by violence as drug cartels dispute extortion rackets and local drug markets.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs .

In 2021, farther south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists – one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German – were killed when they apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.

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Brit, 37, shot dead in Mexico was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'

2 June 2022, 15:02 | Updated: 2 June 2022, 15:03

By Lauren Lewis

A British man shot dead in a supermarket in Mexico was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time', his family have said.

Software engineer Ben Corser, 37, from Cornwall, was killed while sitting in a car outside a shop in Colima in western Mexico on 24 May.

His friends Claudio and Alfredo were also shot and killed while inside the vehicle on Camino Real Boulevard.

Corser's parents announced his death on Friday and have since said they believe he was "tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The statement added: "We have had no explanation, no reasons given, no suggestion of robbery, kidnapping or anything else.

"No doubt the police will eventually conclude their investigation and tell us what they think happened - there had been a dramatic upsurge in Colima in the last few weeks, although this was not directed at all at tourists."

Ben travelled to Mexico in January and was living with an American-Mexican family at the time of his death.

Read more: 'Catastrophic': Four dead in Tulsa mass shooting days after Texas school attack

A Facebook post from his father Andrew Corser said Ben was living with two American-Mexican men, Claudio and Alfredo.

The statement said: "On Tuesday evening, May 24 2022, Ben and Claudio come back on the bus from Guadalajara and Alfredo picked them up in the car.

"They went along the main boulevard in Colima and stopped at a supermarket to get some food for Mamma.

"While they were in the car, outside the supermarket, all three young men, including Ben sitting in the back seat, were shot dead."

The Corsers went on to thank friends and family for their support.

The statement said: "Thank you for all your lovely expression of regret and support, and all of the offers of help - St Just, and Ben's large network of friends, has given the family vital comfort in this appalling time of grief."

Ben is the second British man from Cornwall shot dead in Mexico this year after Chris Cleave, 54, was killed while driving through Cancun in March.

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Canadian shot dead in Mexico beach town, 2nd tourist killed this week

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A Canadian tourist was shot to death in Mexico’s Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, marking the second foreign tourist to be killed in the state of Oaxaca this week.

The Attorney General’s Office of Oaxaca reported that a Canadian man was found dead in a car with a bullet wound on Monday. The man’s body was found in the neighbourhood of Arroyo Seco in Puerto Escondido, an area not well-frequented by tourists.

The dead man was identified as Víctor Masson, 27, but prosecutors did not release his hometown. Quebec news outlet Le Quotidien reported that Masson was from Chicoutimi, in Quebec’s Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region.

Mexican prosecutors wrote that an investigation is underway. So far, no motive for the slaying has been released.

“You understand that the family of Victor Masson is in shock and that members learned of the death through the media,” Viau told The Canadian Press in an emailed statement written in French and Spanish.

Viau said the family was asking for privacy, “fearing that the dissemination of false information in the context of this file could interfere with the investigation.”

The killing comes three days after a tourist from Argentina died in a machete attack in another coastal town in Oaxaca.

On Friday, a man wielding a machete attacked a group of three Argentinian tourists in the hamlet of La Isla, about 100 kilometres west of Puerto Escondido.

Benjamin Gamond died of his injuries on Monday at a hospital in Mexico City. The two other tourists were wounded in the attack but did not suffer life-threatening injuries. A suspect is in custody on suspicion of homicide, prosecutors said.

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In recent months, a spate of high-profile killings has shone a spotlight on rising violence in Mexico as Canadian and U.S. tourists gear up for summer vacation.

Less than a month ago, authorities in Cancun discovered eight dead bodies dumped close to each other in the city. Mere weeks before that, four men were shot dead in Cancun’s hotel zone near the beach. Mexican authorities believe those killings are linked to drug gang leader Hector Elias Flores Aceves, also known as “The Panther.”

In March, two U.S. tourists were killed and two others were kidnapped after they crossed the border so one of them could get a tummy tuck surgery from a doctor in the Mexican border city of Matamoros.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert that month warning travellers to “exercise increased caution,” especially after dark, at resorts in places like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.

The government of Canada does not have a standing alert for the Oaxaca region, but warns that all travellers to Mexico should “exercise a high degree of caution.”

“There are high rates of violent crime, such as homicides, kidnappings, carjacking and assaults, including in popular tourist destinations such as the Mayan Riviera (Cancún, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos and Tulum), and Acapulco,” the advisory states.

“Criminal groups and drug cartels are present in tourist areas. Inter-gang and cartel fighting has taken place in restaurants, hotels and nightclubs frequented by tourists.”

— with files from The Associated Press and the Canadian Press

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British tourist, 34, dies after being mugged and hit over head with a gun

The victim, 34, a Swedish-born man with a British passport who lived and worked in Kent, was on an extended holiday when he was hit over the head with the butt of a gun by a gang of muggers while he was on a hike in Medellin, Colombia

• 07:39, 3 Mar 2023
• Updated 17:12, 3 Mar 2023

A British tourist has reportedly died after being attacked by muggers at a mountain viewpoint overlooking the Colombian city of Medellin, according to local media.

The 34-year-old was reportedly found two days after disappearing and rushed to hospital in a critical condition before succumbing to his multiple injuries , which included head wounds.

Colombian media identified him as Kyle MacKenzie, a Swedish-born man with a British passport who lived and worked in Ashford, Kent.

Local reports say his body is now at Medellin’s Forensic Medicine Institute. The UK Foreign Office has been approached for comment.

The dead man is understood to have been on an extended holiday when he was killed . He is believed to have been hit over the head with the butt of a gun by muggers who stole his belongings after he hiked to the Hill of Three Crosses.

He was found at the bottom of a drop near the top of the hill, where he is thought to have been abandoned after being attacked.

He was taken to a nearby health centre before being rushed to Medellin’s General Hospital where he died despite life-saving surgery, just before midday local time on Wednesday.

He reportedly managed to tell medics he had been attacked and mugged by three men who stole all his belongings before he lost his fight for life.

The Hill of Three Crosses, Cerro De Las Tres Cruces in Spanish, is a short but intense hike that offers breathtaking views of the city of Medellin.

As well as three small crosses at the top, it has an outdoor gym.

Holidaymakers who have made the same hike and posted comments online said they felt very safe climbing the path, but warned against going late in the day when it starts getting dark. They also admitted to hearing of people being robbed at night.

The mugging victim has been described as the first foreign person to have been murdered in Medellin so far this year, following 10 murders of foreigners last year in the city.

No arrests are yet believed to have been made, although police chief Henry Yesid Bello was quoted as saying detectives had some information pointing to the criminals believed to be responsible.

Earlier this year, a British tourist was killed after being shot multiple times during his holiday at a luxury villa in Jamaica.

Personal trainer Sean Patterson, 33, from West London, was reportedly gunned down during a stay at the One Love Guest House in Bogue Hill, St James on Saturday.

Jamaica Constabulary Force told the PA news agency officers from Montego Bay Police had received reports the 33-year-old was standing by the accommodation's on-site pool when witnesses heard “loud explosions”.

Mr Patterson, a British national, was then shot multiple times after a short chase. He was transported to hospital with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head, but was unable to be revived.

A 34-year-old man from Kingston, Jamaica was taken into custody in connection with the incident, according to local media, who additionally reported that he had been deported from the United Kingdom in 2013.

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Canadian killed in southern Mexico, 2nd tourist slain in Oaxaca in less than a week

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Canadian man was shot to death in Mexico’s Pacific coast beach town of Puerto Escondido, prosecutors said Tuesday.

He was the second foreign tourist killed in the southern state of Oaxaca in less than a week.

Oaxaca state prosecutors said Tuesday the Canadian man was found dead in a car with a bullet wound on Monday in a neighborhood of Puerto Escondido where few tourists stay.

Prosecutors did not provide any possible motive in the slaying. The dead man was identified as Víctor Masson, 27, but no information on his hometown was available.

The killing comes three days after a man from Argentina was seriously wounded in a machete attack in another coastal town in Oaxaca.

Prosecutors said Monday the Argentine tourist — whose name was not released — died of his injuries at a hospital in Mexico City.

He was among a group of three Argentines were attacked by a Mexican man with a machete on Friday in the hamlet of La Isla, at the mouth of the Laguna de Chacahua, on the Pacific coast. The other two tourists were also wounded in the attack, but their injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

Laguna de Chacahua is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of Puerto Escondido.

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Woman suspected of kidnapping and killing girl is beaten to death by mob in Mexican tourist city

Updated on: March 29, 2024 / 7:47 AM EDT / CBS/AP

A mob in the Mexican tourist city of Taxco brutally beat a woman to death Thursday because she was suspected of kidnapping and killing a young girl, rampaging just hours before the city's famous Holy Week procession.

The mob formed after an 8-year-old girl disappeared Wednesday. Her body was found on a road on the outskirts of the city early Thursday. Security camera footage appeared to show a woman and a man loading a bundle, which may have been the girl's body, into a taxi.

The mob surrounded the woman's house Thursday, threatening to drag her out. Police took the woman into the bed of a police pickup truck, but then stood by - apparently intimidated by the crowd - as members of the mob dragged her out of the truck and down onto the street where they stomped, kicked and pummeled her until she lay, partly stripped and motionless.

Police then picked her up and took her away, leaving the pavement stained with blood. The Guerrero state prosecutors' office later confirmed the woman died of her injuries.

"This is the result of the bad government we have," said a member of the mob, who gave her name as Andrea but refused to give her last name. "This isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened," she said, referring to the murder of the girl, "but this is the first time the people have done something."

"We are fed up," she said. "This time it was an 8-year-old girl."

The mayor of Taxco, Mario Figueroa, said he shared residents' outrage over the killing. Figueroa said a total of three people beaten by the mob - the woman and two men - had been taken away by police. Video from the scene suggested they had also been beaten, though The Associated Press witnessed only the beating of the woman.

The state prosecutors' office said the two men were hospitalized. There was no immediate information on their condition.

In a statement issued soon after the event, Figueroa complained he did not get any help from the state government for his small, outnumbered municipal police force.

"Unfortunately, up to now we have not received any help or answers," Figueroa said.

The Good Friday eve religious procession, which dates back centuries in the old silver-mining town, went off as planned Thursday night.

People crowded Taxco's colonial streets to watch hooded men walking while whipping themselves or carrying heavy bundles of thorns across their bare shoulders in penitence to emulate the suffering of Jesus Christ carrying the cross.

But the earlier flash of violence cast a pall over the already solemn procession, which draws thousands to the small town.

Many participants wore small white ribbons of mourning.

"I never thought that in a touristic place like Taxco we would experience a lynching," said Felipa Lagunas, a local elementary school teacher. "I saw it as something distant, in places far from civilization ... I never imagined that my community would experience this on such a special day."

Mob attacks in rural Mexico are common. In 2018, two men were torched by an angry crowd in the central state of Puebla, and the next day a man and woman were dragged from their vehicle, beaten and set afire in the neighboring state of Hidalgo.

But Taxco and other cities in Guerrero state have been particularly prone to violence.

In late January, Taxco endured a days-long strike by private taxi and van drivers who suffered threats from one of several drug gangs fighting for control of the area. The situation was so bad that police had to give people rides in the back of their patrol vehicles.

Around the same time, the bullet-ridden bodies of two detectives were found on the outskirts of Taxco. Local media said their bodies showed signs of torture.

In February, Figueroa's own bulletproof car was shot up by gunmen on motorcycles.

In Taxco and throughout Guerrero state, drug cartels and gangs routinely prey on the local population, demanding protection payments from store owners, taxi and bus drivers. They kill those who refuse to pay.

Cartel violence in Guerrero has continued unabated this year.

In February, investigators in Guerrero said they confirmed the contents of a grisly drug cartel video showing gunmen shooting, kicking and burning the corpses of their enemies. Prosecutors said they had reached the remote scene of the crime in the mountain township of Totolapan and  found five charred bodies .  

In January, an alleged  cartel attack in Guerrero  killed at least six people and injured 13 others.

The U.S. State Department urges Americans not to travel to Guerrero, citing widespread crime and violence. "Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero," the U.S. advisory says . "Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence towards travelers."

Residents said they have had enough, even though the violence may further affect tourism.

"We know the town lives off of Holy Week (tourism) and that this is going to mess it up. There will be a lot of people who won't want to come anymore," said Andrea, the woman who was in the mob. "We make our living off tourism, but we cannot continue to allow them to do these things to us."

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Tourists Killed in Mexico... Is it Safe to Go Now?

When it comes to horror stories of tourists in Mexico, we’ve seen lots of hard lessons lately.

Two Australian surfers, Adam Coleman and Dean Lucas, disappeared after last being seen in the Mexico town of Topolobampo on Nov. 20. They were on a surfing vacation and reportedly had been planning to drive south to Guadalajara. On Friday, police announced that they have arrested three people who confessed to killing the tourists and setting them and their van on fire.

It’s important that you exercise caution when traveling to Mexico. (Illustration: iStock)

Earlier this year, Oliver Daniel Caraco, an American expat living in Mexico, reportedly was beaten to death, allegedly while trying to stop a group from stealing his scooter.

Last year, the body of Harry Devert, a 33-year-old New Yorker, was found near Zihuatanejo. Devert had been riding his motorcycle to Brazil for the World Cup. An alleged leader of a drug gang was arrested and accused of the crime.

Also last year, 22-year-old Florida man Craig Taylor was found strangled to death on a dirt road in Punta Sam, north of downtown Cancun.

In all, the State Department says that in 2013 and 2014, a total of 181 Americans were murdered in Mexico.

Australian surfers Dean Lucas and Adam Coleman, who disappeared on vacation in Mexico. (Photo: Facebook).

Making this situation even more worrisome is that the state of Sinaloa — where the van registered to Lucas and Coleman was found — is the home base of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel, which the U.S. State Department calls “one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.”

The tragedy has once again highlighted the dangers of travel in Mexico. It’s a danger Coleman’s Mexican girlfriend — Andrea Gomez, whom the two were supposed to meet in Guadalajara — knows well. “I had talked to them about the insecurity [in Mexico],“ she told the Associated Press , "but I never told them about the terrible things that could happen. For that I feel a bit responsible.”

Are tourists ignoring the warnings?

"The risk exists; the threat is there,” Ed Clark, senior security consultant at international risk management firm iJet , tells Yahoo Travel. Nevertheless, it appears Coleman and Lucas were traveling — and, according to CBS News , may have even stopped to camp — in a notoriously dangerous area. The State Department has warned against non-essential travel to Sinaloa, where driving remote roads “is especially dangerous and should be avoided.”

The van registered to Coleman was found in an area well known for drug cartel activity. (Photo: AP)

Clark believes such warnings aren’t heeded by many travelers. “They’ll say, ‘I’ll be OK — I’ll go down there and I’ll be just fine,’” Clark says. “Sometimes it takes some hard lessons to be learned.”

“Years ago, we saw more violence along the border [with the U.S.] — Tamaulipas, Nuevo Laredo, those regions,” Clark tells Yahoo Travel. “Now it seems that more of the violence in the last three or four years is more in the southwest part of Mexico.”

He cites the states of Guerrero — home to the resort towns of Acapulco, Ixtapa, and Zihuatanejo — and Michoacán: ”[Those states] seem to really be the hotbed for violence against tourists, both American and Canadian,“ Clark said. Guerrero is where the body of Harry Devert, that American motorcyclist, was found.

Related: Tourist Destinations That Are More Dangerous Than You Think

Right now, of Mexico’s 31 states and its Federal District (aka Mexico City), eight are under a State Department Travel Warning where all but essential travel is strongly discouraged.

Some of the areas under a warning include Jalisco, home to Puerto Vallarta, and Nayarit, location of the glamorous resort area of Punta Mita. Sinaloa, where the Australian surfers went missing, is one of those states.

In 12 other states, visitors are under a Travel Advisory, where they’re warned to exercise caution.

Mazatlán is a popular tourist destination in Sinaloa, one of the eight Mexican states where all but essential travel is strongly discouraged under a State Department Travel Warning. (Photo: Getty Images)

Clark says isolating the threat in Mexico is difficult because it tends to come from all kinds of sources, depending on where you are. "In some areas the current threat may be from the local police,” Clark says, pointing to alleged police involvement in last year’s disappearance of 43 Mexican students in Guerrero. “In the state of Tamaulipas, it could be an issue with the cartels. Or it could be common criminals.”

Related: 7 Ways to Stay Safe on a Cruise

That’s a particular danger in places like Guadalajara and Mexico City, where “micro-kidnappings” — when robbers grab you, take you around, force you to withdraw all your money from ATMs, and let you go — have been reported.

How to travel in Mexico safely

Despite the headlines, Clark says drug cartels generally aren’t out to kill tourists, especially those driving through their territory. “If you drive to a narco blockade, which is a roadblock set up by drug cartels, they might take your stuff,” he says. “If you have cameras and laptops and phones, they’ll steal those. They’ll take your money. They may slap you around. But they have no interest in killing you because it just draws attention to them."

The exception is if they suspect you may be a threat to them, either by being law enforcement or from a rival gang.

The U.S. State Department repeatedly has warned of violence raging throughout Mexico. (Photo: AP)

"That’s when you see the difference between them committing a petty crime — just beating you up and taking your gear — versus killing you,” he says. (According to The Daily Mail , the man arrested in Devert’s murder says his gang thought the American was a U.S. agent).

Clark says travelers to Mexico should heed some basic safety tips. One is to pay attention to how you’re being perceived. Being mistaken for law enforcement can have tragic consequences. If you’re flashing money and expensive stuff, you may be perceived as a wealthy person (aka, “potential target”).

Clark also suggests not risking your life to protect an object. “If you don’t need it, don’t take it with you,” he says. “Buy a burner telephone. Take your pictures and upload them. That way if someone steals your phone, you’re not really missing anything. Know what is important to protect, which is really your life.”

Putting it all in perspective

The good news is that Mexico remains safe for the vast majority of visitors, especially those who don’t venture outside the popular resort areas. U.S. officials say a total of 25.4 million Americans visited Mexico in 2014, while 100 Americans were reported murdered in that country that same year. That would be a murder rate of .39 per 100,000 Americans, less than half the murder rate of New Hampshire.

And some of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations — including Quintana Roo, where Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen are located — has been given the all clear by the State Department.

Related: Is Mexico Safe for American Tourists Right Now?

Still, no one is claiming New Hampshire is more dangerous to tourists than Mexico. And reports of violence in Mexico may be having an effect. When 2015’s final death tolls come in, Clark expects to see a decline in the number of Americans killed in Mexico compared with last year, as more people heed cautionary tales like that of the two missing Australians.

“I think it’s touched our life,” Clark says of Mexico’s well-known violence problem. “People know a friend or a colleague or a fellow student who was kidnapped or hurt or maybe even murdered. And they certainly have been able to read about it as well. People are being more prudent.”

Clark then adds, “Or they’re going to Florida for spring break instead of Mexico.”

WATCH: What ‘Suspicious Behavior’ Should You Report in the Age of Terrorism?

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Woman’s half-naked body found dumped at the side of the road

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A woman who was tortured and held at gunpoint has been found dead on the side of a road in Mexico.

Laura Karen Rodriguez Moreno was interrogated by the brutal Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel and forced to admit she was a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in harrowing video shared on social media before her death.

Masked men armed with guns were seen surrounding her and asking her questions in the footage, according to the Mirror .

After interrogating her, one of the men questioning her said: ‘This goes out to all of those skinny Jalisca b***hes. We’re coming after everyone of you guys.’

Laura was forced to falsely confess to being a member of the rival gang, and to an alleged relationship with the local police in Salamanca, Guanajuato.

Laura’s body was later discovered in Valtierrilla, Salamanca, abandoned on a rural roadside.

Horrific photos showed her body lying next to guardrails on the roadside in the Mexican town.

Violence against women in Mexico

The Gender Equality Observatory has revealed a shockingly high number of women dying from femicide in Mexico – 948 out of every 100,000 women. (Source: NIH )

Among women aged 30 to 39, 43.9% have experienced sexual violence from their partner or non-partner. (Source: Gitnux )

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel was founded in 2014, and operates out of the Mexican state of Guanajuato.

The deadly gang is known for drug trafficking, money laundering, oil theft, robbery, murder and more heinous crimes. They were behind the death of 12 people at a mass shooting before Christmas this year.

The Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which Laura was forced to say she worked for, is a gang which has been accused of cannibalism.

They operate in Jalisco and are known for training new recruits in cannibalism, with one member telling the Daily Beast : ‘First they teach them how to cut people. They start by learning how to sever the extremities.

‘They are given a choice of one of those pieces to eat in front of the boss,” the man said. “You have to do it without reaction or vomiting or you are beaten. If you didn’t want to [eat human flesh], they wouldn’t let you leave.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

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Brit tourist killed in India after ‘rough wave crashed him into dune’

A British tourist died while on a surfing holiday after a rough wave left him with horrifying injuries to his head and neck. 

Roy John Taylor, 55, an expert body surfer from London , was at Varkala Papanasam Beach in the south Indian state of Kerala when the tragic incident took place at around 11.30am on Friday, local media has reported.

One of the lifeguards on duty at the time has been quoted as saying: ‘The person was doing body surfing on the waves when a rough wave swept him and crashed him onto the dune.

‘He suffered injuries on the head and neck and we gave him first aid and took him to the hospital.’

Mr Taylor is understood to have been in the company of a woman when the accident occurred. 

Police told local media: ‘We have completed the inquest and the body has been sent for postmortem at Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

‘From the preliminary investigation, the accident happened because of rough waves while he was body surfing.’

They added that Mr Taylor’s death has been reported to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, the Indian High Commission and the British Embassy. 

It’s not the only story of British tourists dying under tragic circumstances while on holiday in India to have made headlines this year. 

Just last week, a man was reported to have drowned in front of his wife while swimming off a beach in Goa, in the west of India. He was 72 years old.

At another beach in the region, the body of a woman was also found earlier in January. 

Named by local media as Emma Louise Leaning, police said they were conducting an investigation into the woman’s cause of death though noted there did not appear to have been any foul play involved.

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British sisters die in West Bank shooting - as Italian tourist killed in Tel Aviv terror attack

The two attacks came after Israel planes launched pre-dawn strikes on Friday in response to a barrage of rockets fired the day before.

By Dan Cairns, news reporter

Saturday 8 April 2023 05:18, UK

An Italian tourist has been killed and several people injured in a terror attack in Tel Aviv, hours after it was confirmed that two women who died in a West Bank shooting were British.

The attack in the Israeli city happened on Friday night when a car hit four people near the Charles Claure Promenade, police said.

The ambulance service said all the victims were foreign tourists, while Italian authorities confirmed the person who died was one of its citizens.

A police officer was at a petrol station when they "heard a noise and noticed a car upside down, and several people lying on the floor", according to a statement.

Officers approached and "neutralised the driver and killed him" after seeing that he was reaching for a weapon.

The two British women killed in the West Bank shooting earlier on Friday were sisters - one aged 15 and the other in her 20s, according to local media.

Their mother was seriously injured in the attack near the Hamra settlement - about 30 miles north of Jerusalem - and had to be airlifted to hospital.

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It came after Israel launched morning strikes on Lebanon and Gaza in response to rocket attacks on Thursday that it blamed on militant group Hamas .

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the mobilisation of border police reserve units and extra IDF (Israel Defence Forces) personnel "to confront the terror attacks".

Tensions are high in the region following police raids on Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem this week .

Sky News Middle East correspondent Ali Bunkall said it's believed the British victims of the West Bank attack moved to Israel around 2005.

Pictures from the scene show several cars badly damaged on the side of the road.

Their father was behind in another car when the attack happened, according to Oded Revivi, the mayor of a settlement near Bethlehem where the family lived.

Sky's correspondent said the targeting of cars with Israeli number plates in the West Bank had become "far more commonplace in the last few weeks".

Mr Netanyahu and defence Minister Yoav Gallant visited the site of the shooting late on Friday.

"It's just a matter of time, and not much time, until we settle the score," Mr Netanyahu said.

Road blocks were set up to try to find the attackers.

No group has claimed responsibility but a Hamas spokesman hailed it as "retaliation for the crimes committed by Israel in the West Bank and the Al Aqsa mosque".

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A UK Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement: "We are saddened to hear about the deaths of two British-Israeli citizens and the serious injuries sustained by a third individual.

"The UK calls for all parties across the region to de-escalate tensions."

Tension on the streets as religious festivals coincide

Middle East correspondent

Jerusalem has been calm today, but you can feel the tensions on the streets. Israeli security officials have bolstered numbers, especially in the Old City.

This weekend sees the convergence of Ramadan, Passover and Easter - the internal intelligence agencies had marked it as being a potential flashpoint.

The salvo of missiles from southern Lebanon into northern Israel yesterday afternoon came as a surprise. For a few hours, it had the potential to be a major escalation.

Not since 2006 has such an attack happened on Israel but the airstrikes overnight were carefully calibrated to avoid further violence.

Israeli forces hit the launch sites and in areas not controlled by Hezbollah.

Likewise, the simultaneous strikes in Gaza attacked known Hamas military posts but didn't cause casualties.

Having said that, it wouldn't take much to spark more violence. In previous years, violence has often escalated in the second half of Ramadan.

Jews, and other religions, are prevented from entering Al Aqsa between Friday and Sunday. When the compound opens up again, it might be a moment for more clashes.

The killing of two young British sisters in the West Bank is the latest tragedy in a new trend of Palestinian militant violence.

Cars with Israeli number plates have been increasingly targeted, sometimes fatally, as was the case in this incident.

Hamas, and Gaza, is a known quantity - you can read the signs and it often follows a pattern.

What is harder to predict are acts by unaffiliated Palestinians acting alone and how that might light the flame under this tinderbox.

The clashes at Jerusalem's Al Aqsa compound this week came at the start of the Jewish festival of Passover, which this year crosses over with Ramadan.

The site is extremely sacred to both Muslims and Jews and tensions over access and control often spill over into violence.

Read more: Why is there tension over Jerusalem holy site?

Israel's pre-dawn airstrikes on Friday hit different areas of Gaza, including tunnels and weapons-making sites of Hamas - the group that controls the blockaded coastal strip.

Hamas targets in southern Lebanon were also attacked, according to Israel's military.

There were no reports of serious injuries but the Palestinian Health Ministry said a children's hospital in Gaza had been damaged.

Israel said its retaliation followed 34 rockets fired from Lebanon on Thursday - one of the heaviest such attacks since its 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Authorities said 25 of the rockets fired at Israel were intercepted by air defences.

Most of those that made it into Israeli territory hit open areas, but a house was hit by shrapnel when one landed in the town of Sderot.

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Mexico breaks ties with Ecuador after police storm its embassy in Quito to arrest politician

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Mexico’s government ended diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorean vice president, an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats.

Ecuadorean police broke through the external doors of the embassy in the capital, Quito, late Friday to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. Glas sought political asylum at the embassy after being indicted on corruption charges.

The raid prompted Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to announce the break of diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Friday evening, while his government’s foreign relations secretary said the move will be challenged at the World Court in The Hague.

“This is not possible. It cannot be. This is crazy,” Roberto Canseco, head of the Mexican consular section in Quito, told local news media while standing outside the embassy right after the raid. “This is totally outside the norm.”

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On Saturday, Glas was taken by armored vehicle from the attorney general’s office to an airport, where he boarded an aircraft for a flight to the port city of Guayaquil, 265 miles south of Quito, where he will remain in custody at a maximum-security prison.

Glas’ attorney, Sonia Vera, told the Associated Press that officers broke into his room and he resisted when they attempted to put his hands behind his back. She said the officers then “knocked him to the floor, kicked him in the head, in the spine, in the legs, the hands,” and when he “couldn’t walk, they dragged him out.”

Vera said the defense team was not allowed to speak with Glas while he was at the prosecutor’s office, and it is working to file a habeas corpus petition.

Authorities are investigating Glas over alleged irregularities during his management of reconstruction efforts following a powerful earthquake in 2016 that killed hundreds of people. He was convicted on bribery and corruption charges in other cases.

Ecuador’s foreign minister, Gabriela Sommerfeld, told reporters Saturday that the decision to enter the embassy was made by President Daniel Noboa after considering Glas an “imminent flight risk” and exhausting all possibilities for diplomatic dialogue with Mexico.

Mexico granted Glas asylum hours before the raid.

Sommerfeld said it is “not legal to grant asylum to people convicted of common crimes and by competent courts.”

After Noboa’s office defended the raid in an earlier statement, saying “Ecuador is a sovereign nation and we are not going to allow any criminal to stay free,” López Obrador fired back. He accused Ecuador of an “authoritarian act” and “a flagrant violation of international law and the sovereignty of Mexico .”

Alicia Bárcena, Mexico’s secretary of foreign relations, posted on the social media platform X that a number of diplomats suffered injuries during the break-in, adding that it violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

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Diplomatic premises are considered “inviolable” under the Vienna treaties and local law enforcement agencies are not allowed to enter without the permission of the ambassador. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lived inside the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for seven years because British police could not enter to arrest him.

The Quito raid was condemned by presidents, diplomats and a regional body on Saturday.

Honduran President Xiomara Castro, writing on X, characterized the raid as “an intolerable act for the international community” and a “violation of the sovereignty of the Mexican State and international law” because “it ignores the historical and fundamental right to asylum.”

The Organization of American States in a statement reminded its members — which include Ecuador and Mexico — of their “obligation” to not “invoke norms of domestic law to justify non-compliance with their international obligations.”

The OAS “expressed solidarity with those who were victims of the inappropriate actions that affected the Mexican Embassy in Ecuador,” according to the statement released Saturday. The organization added that it deemed a meeting of its permanent council “necessary to address the issue,” but did not set a date.

Bárcena on Friday said Mexico would take the case to the International Court of Justice “to denounce Ecuador’s responsibility for violations of international law.” She also said Mexican diplomats were only waiting for the Ecuadorean government to offer the necessary guarantees for their return home.

Noboa became Ecuador’s president last year as the nation battled unprecedented crime tied to drug trafficking. After a group of armed individuals assaulted a TV station during a live broadcast in January, he declared the country in an “internal armed conflict” and designated 20 drug-trafficking gangs as terrorist groups that the military had authorization to “neutralize” within the bounds of international humanitarian law.

Will Freeman, a fellow of Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the decision to send police to Mexico’s embassy raises concerns over the steps Noboa is willing to take to get reelected. His tenure ends in 2025 as he was only elected to finish the term of former President Guillermo Lasso.

“I really hope Noboa is not turning more in a Bukele direction,” Freeman said, referring to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele , whose tough-on-crime policies have been heavily criticized by human rights organizations. “That’s to say less respectful of rule of law in order to get a boost to his popularity ahead of the elections.”

Freeman added that whether Glas was abusing diplomatic protection is a “separate issue” from the decision to send police to the embassy.

“We see a pattern of that in Latin America with politicians abusing embassies and foreign jurisdictions, not to flee prosecution but to flee accountability,” he said.

The Mexican Embassy in Quito remained under heavy police guard after the raid.

Vera said Glas’ attorneys fear “something could happen” to him while in custody, considering the track record of Ecuador’s detention facilities, where hundreds have died during violent riots over the last few years. Those killed while in custody include suspects in last year’s assassination of a presidential candidate.

“In Ecuador, going to jail is practically a death sentence,” Vera said. “We consider that the international, political and legal person responsible for the life of Jorge Glas is President Daniel Noboa Azín.”

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