• POWER: Extortion rackets in Mexico’s Pacific Coast resort of Acapulco have brought local business “to its knees” says city mayor Adela Román Ocampo who is asking Guerrero state legislators to tighten the state’s criminal code for offenders not to be set free on bond.
• CRISIS: During the past few years, Acapulco (pop. 673,000) has seen high homicide rates while at the same time seeing extortion spread throughout the city despite few people presenting complaints; the total number of reported extortions in the whole state this year is 202, per official figures.
• GANGS: Last month, a local police intelligence report revealed that 16 criminal cells were responsible for violent crime in Acapulco and that they were splinter groups from the “Independent Acapulco Cartel” (CIDA) a gang once aligned to the Beltrán Leyva drug trafficking organization.
• ADVISORY: Since the year 2012, the number of international visitors arriving to Acapulco’s airport has heavily dwindled, according to official data; the US Department of State has an active Do Not Travel Advisory for the whole state of Guerrero including Acapulco due to crime.
