Police and troops are searching for 10 to 12 suspected gang members who were abducted in a shocking raid by gunmen from an apparent celebration at an upscale restaurant in the popular Mexican beach resort of Puerto Vallarta.
Jalisco state prosecutor Eduardo Almaguer said on Monday that local, state and federal authorities, including marines and soldiers, joined in the operation while investigators reviewed surveillance camera footage for clues, AP reported.
Meanwhile, the city’s tourism promoters scrambled to reassure tourists that it was an isolated incident and that activities for visitors continued without interruption.
Both the kidnappers and those kidnapped were members of criminal organizations, Almaguer said at a news conference called to discuss the early Monday abduction in the resort’s main hotel zone.
“They were not tourists or residents who work in legal activities,” Almaguer said. “They were people tied to a criminal group we can very clearly presume.” He said authorities believe they know which gangs were involved, but declined to name them.
The Jalisco New Generation cartel has become the dominant criminal force in the state. It has battled the powerful Sinaloa cartel for supremacy in other parts of the country, such as Baja California Sur.
Almaguer said two SUVs carrying five gunmen arrived around 1 a.m. at La Leche restaurant on Puerto Vallarta’s main boulevard, which runs through the hotel zone lying between the old beach city and the airport.
Alejandro Hope, a Mexico City-based security analyst, said that without knowing who was taken, it was impossible to say what the fallout might be. He recalled some violence last year in Puerto Vallarta but said the city had been quiet recently.
