The federal government is advising Canadians in parts of Mexico to limit their travel and “take refuge if possible” due to an outbreak of violence since the arrest of “El Chapo’s” son.
Violence is said to be particularly prevalent in Culiacan, Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Guasave.
Canadian tourists were trapped inside a Mexican hotel on Thursday as buses meant to transport them safely to an airport were engulfed in flames outside.
“It’s just chaos,” said Tina Dahl from Edmonton, whose six family members are stranded in the popular tourist town of Mazatlan. They were to fly Thursday evening.
The violence began after a pre-dawn security operation in which security forces captured a suspected drug trafficker who is the son of former cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Canadian officials wrote on Twitter that cars have been set on fire, shots are fired and there is a threat to critical infrastructure, including airports.
The Canadian government says Culiacan and Mazatlan airports are closed and all flights have been suspended at Los Mochis airport until further notice.
Mrs. Dahl mentioned that her brother, her sister-in-law, their three children aged 7, 8 and 10, as well as her sister-in-law’s mother are taken from their hotel room.
“They’re supposed to come back today [jeudi]but they are stuck in their hotel because the three buses that were supposed to go to the airport were set on fire by the cartel [de la drogue] said Ms. Dahl.
“There was a shooting at the airport, so the airports are closed and the cartel has sent its warriors in front of the hotel. I just know my brother and his family are stuck in the hotel right now. »
Without a telephone line to the hotel, Ms. Dahl said she was able to communicate with her relatives through the social network Facebook.
“They all seem to be doing well,” she said. [Ils sont] obviously shaken. Just reading between the lines of text messages and other messages, they are quite shaken. »
Ms Dahl quoted a note written by her sister-in-law: ‘When it happened they first said they would try to get us on a flight at 2 a.m. tomorrow [vendredi]. »
Ms Dahl does not believe her loved ones will be able to fly out on Friday when airports are closed.
“The hall is full of people who were supposed to leave. If they’re not out by 5 p.m., they kick them out. These people can’t go out into the street if there are buses burning in front and the cartel is there, ”laments Ms. Dahl.
The violence comes days before President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will host Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden at a summit of North American leaders in Mexico City.