Drug Gang Violence in Acapulco Affects our Vacation Plans

My wife and I have a vacation trip to Alcapulco, Mexico booked for the last week of this month (we were supposed to leave 9 days from now).

But recent news about the esaclating levels of violence from Mexican drug gangs in this Pacific coast tourist town have made us change our minds:

Since last April, however, the attacks have become more blatant: The smugglers have carried out at least six beheadings. Several officers’ heads were spiked on a railing in front of a downtown building. Another head floated up just off the beach. A decapitated body was found in a hotel room in Pie de la Cuesta, a popular resort just north of the city line, and a municipal police officer was gunned down outside a disco in the tourist zone.

Since taking office in December, President Felipe Calderon has deployed more than 24,000 soldiers and federal police nationwide to fight drug gangs, including about 7,000 sent to the Acapulco region.

7,000 armed-troops in the streets doesn’t exactly make for a relaxing, stress-free vacation. The latest violence occured earlier this month:

At least seven people have been killed in simultaneous attacks on government offices in Mexico’s resort of Acapulco.

In one attack, gunmen opened fire at a state attorney general’s office, killing two policemen, a public prosecutor and a secretary.

Elsewhere, two policemen and a secretary were killed when another group attacked a police station.

The attacks come after President Felipe Calderon ordered thousands of troops to the city to tackle drug-related crime.

The twin assaults, which occurred just before 1100 (1700 GMT), were carried out by groups of about eight heavily armed gunmen said to be wearing army-style khaki uniforms. At one of the offices a gunman asked those inside “Are you the only ones here?”, before the other men opened fire. Eyewitnesses say both attacks were filmed by the gangs.

A week earlier, drug gangs opened fire in the lobby of a tourist hotel, injuring two Canadian citizens.

This headline from CBS News — Drug Violence Threatens Mexico’s Tourism — just affected these tourists from going to Mexico this year.
We’ve talked to our travel agent, and we’re having her book us for a trip to the Bahamas instead (and moving the dates to early April, after the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament is over).