Stray Cartel Gunfire Kills 11-Yr-Old Boy in Cancun, Says Family

Federal police in Cancun, Mexico.
File Photo: AFP/Getty Images

Stray gunfire from cartel gunmen in the Mexican resort of Cancún struck and killed an 11-year old child. The stray round came from cartel gunmen who had opened fire on an adult male target. Officials transported the child to a local clinic where he died several hours later. 

The cartel attack occurred Wednesday night at approximately 7:30 p.m. when two cartel gunmen opened fire on an adult male as he walked along the street in the Supermanzana 72 section of Cancún, The incident occurred near the intersection of La Torcasita and Avenida Miguel Hidalgo. The gunfire left the adult male, later identified as Ricardo R. Q., 26, wounded from at least two gunshots. A stray round from the attack struck an 11-year-old child as he walked on the street with a family member.

The child later, identified as Kalet Gustavo P C, was rushed to a local clinic “Clínica del Seguro Social de la Avenida Cobá.” The child died from his wounds approximately four hours later according to the stepfather of the child and reported by local media. The intended adult male target of the cartel hit is expected to recover from his gunshot wounds. This cartel hit occurred in a local neighborhood of Cancún which is located within the Benito Juárez municipality approximately eight miles from the popular hotel tourist zone.

Breitbart News reports extensively on the cartel violence in once peaceful beach resort of Cancún. In 2018, the traditional tourist magnet smashed its previous annual record for murders with at least 546 — nearly doubling the previous mark of 227 in 2017.

The ongoing violence is attributed to the turf wars between the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, Los Zetas, Gulf, and smaller groups loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel. In April is this year, Breitbart News reported on a similar incident in which a local 6-year-old was killed in Cancún after being struck by stay cartel gunfire. The child was preparing to enter her house with her parents when the gunfire took her life. An unidentified male who was the intended target died at the scene after two cartel gunmen riding on a motorcycle opened fire on the unidentified male who was walking along the road in colonia Supermanzana 75.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com.

 

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