Police official shot to death in Acapulco, latest incident of deadly violence in Mexico's resort

The head of traffic police was shot to death Thursday in Mexico's troubled Pacific coast resort of Acapulco.

The city government said gunmen killed Eduardo Chávez, the head of municipal traffic police. The assailants opened fire on Chávez on a street relatively far away from the resort's beaches. The crime is under investigation.

Drug cartels in Mexico often force bus and taxi drivers to work for them, and thus could have been angered by traffic stops of such vehicles. Videos posted on social media in March showed drug gang enforcers brutally beating bus drivers in Acapulco for failing to act as lookouts for the cartel.

One video showed a presumed gang enforcer dealing more than a dozen hard, open-hand slaps to a driver and calling him an "animal," and demanding he check in several times a day with the gang.

It was the latest incident of deadly violence in Acapulco, which is still struggling to recover after being hit by Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October. Otis left at least 52 dead and destroyed or damaged most hotels.

CRIME

Police official shot to death in Acapulco, latest incident of deadly violence in Mexico's resort

Updated on: April 12, 2024 / 6:22 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The head of traffic police was shot to death Thursday in Mexico's troubled Pacific coast resort of Acapulco.

The city government said gunmen killed Eduardo Chávez, the head of municipal traffic police. The assailants opened fire on Chávez on a street relatively far away from the resort's beaches. The crime is under investigation.

Drug cartels in Mexico often force bus and taxi drivers to work for them, and thus could have been angered by traffic stops of such vehicles. Videos posted on social media in March showed drug gang enforcers brutally beating bus drivers in Acapulco for failing to act as lookouts for the cartel.

One video showed a presumed gang enforcer dealing more than a dozen hard, open-hand slaps to a driver and calling him an "animal," and demanding he check in several times a day with the gang.

It was the latest incident of deadly violence in Acapulco, which is still struggling to recover after being hit by Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October. Otis left at least 52 dead and destroyed or damaged most hotels.

Tourists have begun trickling back into the resort, as violence has continued unabated.

In February, the strangled bodies of two men were found on the popular Condesa beach in Acapulco. Prosecutors in the Pacific coast state of Guerrero said the men's bodies bore signs of "torture by ligature" with "signs of torture around the neck."