Separately, Ontario woman claims rape by Mexican police
A 69-year-old Penticton, B.C. man was caught in crossfire in the tourist-town of Mazatlan, Mexico on Tuesday. He’s recovering in hospital after a metal plate was put in his shattered leg. This came just a day after a 41-year-old Canadian woman alleged she was raped by police officers who arrested her on New Year’s Eve in Playa Del Carmen, a beach-town near Cancun. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry warns that the northern border region of Mexico should be avoided, and reminds Canadians that “high levels of criminal activity… remain a concern throughout the country.” Mazatlan, on the west coast, and Playa Del Carmen, in the southern state Quintana Roo are both far away from the most deadly regions, but these recent incidents are causing Canadians to question whether to visit the country at all. One travel agent in Vancouver told CBC News that she warns clients to avoid western Mexico, including Mazatlan. Travel booker iTravel2000 says the tourist destinations are safe. Mexico’s drug war intensified last year: 15,273 died in gang-related violence in the country in 2010, up from 6,500 the year before. Over a million Canadians visited Mexico last year.