At a well-known beach resort in the municipality of Tulum, Mexico, an American woman perished in the crossfire of an alleged drug deal gone wrong.
According to ABC News, the Quintana Roo State Attorney General’s Office launched an inquiry into the Feb. 9 incident that resulted in the deaths of an American woman and a suspected drug dealer from Belize. Niko Honarbakhsh, 44, was eventually identified as the victim.
The deceased individual was found to be carrying bags containing “brown granulated powder” and “transparent bags with red and orange pills” when he was shot, indicating to the prosecutor’s office that he was probably a gang member and drug dealer.
According to a statement, the prosecutor’s office rejected local stories that attempted to link the two and suggested they were in a relationship as false.
Four taxi and bus drivers were shot and killed in a violent city in southern Mexico.
Honarbakhsh’s death, according to the prosecution, was caused by a stray bullet. As part of the investigation, autopsies will be performed on both bodies.
In an effort to capture the suspected, prosecutors have located leads and begun following them. Not a single suspect has been given a name.
Reports of an earlier US investigation into alleged drug campaign donations are condemned by the president of Mexico.
In Tulum, there have been other tourist deaths in recent years due to gang-related violence. In 2021, two tourists—a German and a travel blogger from California—were shot and killed by rival drug dealers as they were dining at a restaurant.
Situated on the Caribbean Sea shore, Tulum lies a short distance north of Belize’s border and south of Cancun.