The popular resort town has, for the most part, escaped much of the gang violence that has plagued much of Mexico. Photo: John Maher
Gunmen opened fire on eight fisherman in Puerto Escondido late yesterday afternoon.
While details are still sketchy, early reports from Reuters are saying the victims were shark fishermen. The assailants entered a house in Puerto Escondido where the victims were staying and opened fire, killing four of them immediately. Four more were taken to hospital, where they later died.
Although Mexico has had over 100,000 gang-related murders since 2007, the popular resort town has, for the most part, escaped much of the violence that has plagued parts of the rest of the country.
Investigators suspect the victims may have been “engaged in other activities at sea aside from fishing,” according to a prosecutor’s statement, and are following that line of suspicion in their early investigation. The Oaxaca coastline acts as a funnel for drug traffickers looking to move drugs into the US, and the victims, who were shark fisherman, used larger vessels than regular fishing boats.
We’ll have more on this story as it develops.
