Mexico makes arrests for massacre in Caribbean resort city

Mexican authorities have several suspects in custody in connection with last weekend’s shooting at a bar in the Caribbean resort city of Playa del Carmen that left seven people dead, state prosecutors said Tuesday.

“The Attorney General’s Office of Quintana Roo State reports the arrest of several people, among them the material authors of the seven homicides,” the agency said on Twitter.

Two gunmen entered the Virginias bar around 8:00 pm Sunday and opened fire with large-caliber arms.

The gunmen left the bar and escaped in a vehicle.

The shooting was similar to one on Jan. 16, 2017, at the Blue Parrot club, where six people were killed and 15 others wounded in Playa del Carmen during an electronic music festival.

Officials blamed that shooting on a dispute between drug traffickers.

Unlike the shooting at the Blue Parrot, which is in a hotel and restaurant district, the Virginias bar is on the outskirts of the city and frequented mostly by locals.

Since 2017, drug-related violence has been a growing problem in Quintana Roo, which welcomes tens of thousands of tourists each year and generates huge amounts of hard currency for Mexico.

Officials blame the violence on a turf war involving the Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel, the Los Zetas cartel and other gangs that want to control the illegal drug trade in the region.