'We don't know what's going to happen': B.C. woman waiting out cartel violence in Mexico
CTV
A Victoria woman who is vacationing in the Mexican resort city of Mazatlan says an uneasy calm has fallen over the city following an explosion of street violence after the arrest of an alleged drug cartel leader.
A Victoria woman who is vacationing in the Mexican resort city of Mazatlan says an uneasy calm has fallen over the city following an explosion of street violence after the arrest of an alleged drug cartel leader.
"Today is very different from yesterday," Meredith Brown, who has been in the coastal Sinaloa city for about a month, told CTV News on Friday.
Deadly fighting broke out Thursday between Sinaloa drug cartel members and Mexican authorities after the arrest of alleged drug trafficker Ovidio Guzman, who is a son of former cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
Brown described the eerie mood in the city Thursday night as reminiscent of the earliest days of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions back home in British Columbia.
"It was dead silent," she said. "People were taking it very seriously that they needed to be indoors. Buses weren’t running. All of the shops and whatnot were closed."
The Canadian government advised Canadians in Mexico to shelter in place, avoid crowds, and not to try to cross blockades, even if they appear unmanned.