As Mexico’s drug war spreads to holiday and weekend resorts, tourists have become their newest targets.
In the latest attack, a couple were ambushed by an armed gang in speedboats while riding jet-skis on a lake straddling the border with Texas.
30 year old David Hartley, an oil worker from Colorado, died after being shot in the head after he and his wife had taken a trip to see a church on the Mexican side.
His wife Tiffany, 29, tried to save him but had to flee after she was unable to life him out of the water at Falcon Lake.
“We saw that they had guns, so we started racing away from them. It’s a miracle I’m even here” she said.
A group of 20 Mexican visitors were kidnapped by armed men in Acapulco on Mexico’s Pacific coast at the weekend.
Violence has spread through Acapulco to tourist strips, leaving hotels half empty with hoteliers offering discounts in a desperate attempt to entice visitors back.
Once a popular destination for Hollywood stars and millionaires including John Wayne and Johnny Weissmuller, Acapulco has also been a popular stop for cruise ships including the QE2.
Over 200,000 British tourists visited Mexico last year and the Foreign Office warned this week of a rise in violence along northern states of Chihuahua, Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon.
“There has been a recent increase in the number of crimes, murders, fire fights and roadblocks linked to drug turf wars, including in areas away from the US border.
“The security situation is fluid and armed clashes between security forces and drug groups are commonplace in certain areas, and can occur at any time without warning,” the Foreign Office said.
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