California Travel Blogger Killed In Apparent Crossfire Of Shootout In Mexico

A Californian travel blogger was one of two foreign tourists killed at a restaurant in Mexico’s Caribbean beach resort of Tulum during a shootout between suspected gang members Wednesday.

One of the deceased was a woman named Anjali Ryot, according to authorities in Quintana Roo, the state where Tulum, Playa del Carmen and Cancun are located, the Associated Press reported.

An Instagram account under the same name showed a post of Ryot lounging and smiling on a seaside pier in Tulum two days prior to the shooting. Her bio indicated that she was a travel blogger from Himachal, India. A linked Facebook page said she had been living in San Jose, California, prior to her death.

The second casualty was a German woman identified as Jennifer Henzold. Details on her hometown were not immediately available.

Three other foreign tourists were injured in the shooting. Two were German men, while the other was a Dutch woman. Their current conditions are unknown.

Initial investigations indicated the shooting in Tulum’s Mini Quinta entertainment zone was “an armed clash between criminal groups dedicated to the sale of drugs,” The Guardian reported, citing a statement from the district attorney’s office in Quintana Roo.

Marciano Dzul, the mayor of Tulum, told Milenio television that the victims had no known links to the criminals and appeared to have been caught in the crossfire.

He added that one of the alleged gunmen has been arrested.

A civic group called Citizens Observatorio of Tulum posted Friday photos of hand-lettered signs that appeared at a local market in Tulum. They had been signed by a drug gang known as Los Pelones, roughly “the Shaved Heads.”

The sign said the shooting “was a warning, so you can see we mean business.” Those behind the sign also threatened to shut down similar places if they do not pay extortion demands for protection money, according to the Associated Press.

The gang is said to be part of the Gulf Cartel and has long extorted protection money from bars and nightclubs in Cancun. However, it appears they have expanded their operations to include Playa del Carmen and Tulum. The gang is also fighting the Jalisco Cartel and other groups for the area’s lucrative drug market.

The shooting has placed Tulum in a spot, threatening its reputation as a low-key carefree beach town. The presence of drug gangs has already started to become a concern, particularly for people who planned to buy a property in the area.

“I think that what was surprising, is we figured that this type of crime wouldn’t necessarily be where the main tourist areas are, just because it’s such a big part of the economy,” said James Graham, a U.S. tourist who planned to buy a property and rent it out on Airbnb. “You would think that you would be very careful to make sure that you know the tourists feel very safe coming here.”