Drug Wars Take Over Mexico’s Acapulco

Once a playground for presidents and stars, Acapulco is now the scene of a deadly power struggle.

Acapulco, the once glittering resort graced by Hollywood luminaries and romancing US presidents, is earning a reputation as the latest stage for an escalating turf war between Mexico’s main drug cartels.

Sporadic ambushes and assassinations carried out with hand grenades began in 2005, alongside a constant trickle of lower profile murders of the foot soldiers in the conflict. Now the violence is intensifying to the point that every day there is at least one death thought to be associated with the war.

But in Acapulco the police have also been directly involved in much of the highest profile violence, something the general accepts implies that the authorities are infiltrated by the traffickers.

The authorities are accused of doing nothing, and rich and poor alike scoff at the special anti-drug operations dubbed “Safe Mexico”. Locals say the crackdown, which includes patrols through the city, has had little significant impact beyond pushing drug dealers for local consumption to be more discreet.