Drug-trade violence grips Acapulco

The top-level arrests have created opportunities for smaller players to vie for control of principal traffic routes. The result: Battles once contained in border towns have spread to tourist hot spots.

"In some sense, as the country is more democratic, so is the drug trade," says Bruce Bagley, a drug-trade expert at the University of Miami. "There are a lot more players in it, and crime has risen because Mexican authorities don't have the personnel [to tackle it]."

In Acapulco, the results have been devastating. The bay town was once a playground of Hollywood stars. On a recent day, as Mr. Valdez Reycen from the police department went through photos chronicling events over the last few months, it seemed more like the backdrop to a horror film.

In January, a daytime shootout a mile from the beach left four suspected traffickers dead. Three months later, two heads were hung outside the state Finance and Administration headquarters, where the shootout had been, with a note: "So that you learn to respect."

Teresa de Jesús Rivas, the city's tourism director, says that vacationers have not been scared away in recent years. The number of visitors increased from 5.3 million in 2004 to 5.7 million in 2005, and she expects this year to keep pace with, or exceed, the last.

Still, drug violence does image damage. "When people are looking for a destination for vacation and they see there are heads in Acapulco, it's not going to be as attractive," she says outside her office, next to a huge photo of the bay when foreign tourism dominated the market. These days, only about 15 percent of tourists hail from other countries.

These are among the challenges for Salgado, who says security is his top priority. He led a peace march in July. And he says that random street patrols, which include 400 federal, state, and local police have started to tranquilize the town. "The people were afraid, terrorized, horrified, but it's improved," Salgado says.

Fernando Tenopala, the president of a local business group, agrees that the situation is better. "When the extreme violence began [this year], suddenly we felt very alone ... and protested for peace," he says. Since then the police have received training in using arms, as well as 250 additional HK-36 rifles. "Things have improved, though we have to continue fighting."

President-elect Calderón has already outlined plans to create a national crime database and sweep the police of corruption.

Local residents remain doubtful. Mari Acosta, a cook in a local eatery, says she is tired of the line that the drug wars are between enemies – especially since she says no one knows who the enemy is. "It's hurting the rest of us too, but the government does nothing about it, probably because they are involved, otherwise they wouldn't get killed," she says in a low voice so customers don't hear.

Just last month she saw in the newspaper that a regular customer was gunned down outside town. She didn't know his name but recognized his face. Says Ms. Acosta: "I don't know what's going to happen with us here in Acapulco."

• Ms. Llana is Latin America correspondent for the Monitor and USA Today.

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