A FORMER holiday hotspot has quickly transformed into one of the deadliest cities on Earth known for death, drugs and destruction.
Colima in Mexico now holds the terrifying title of the world’s murder capital after a string of violent deaths plagued the area as it became a bloody cartel warzone.
AFPSoldiers burn piles of cocaine in Colima as the once popular tourist spot has transformed into the murder capital of the world[/caption]
AFPColima has become overrun with gangs trading drugs from fentanyl to liquid meth and cocaine[/caption]
AFPThe 330,000 person-strong city is being ripped apart by the violent cartel turf wars[/caption]
GettyPolice have found mass graves littered across Colima[/caption]
Over 600 brutal homicides were recorded in 2022
Day-to-day life in Colima consists of constant gunfire and seeing bloodied bodies tossed along the streets, say The Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice (CCPSCJ) in Mexico.
For many Mexicans, hearing the screams of innocent people being killed in the streets is just part of life – especially in Colima.
Over 600 brutal homicides were recorded in 2022 with many of these being traced back to a trio of gangs in the area as the leading kingpins continue to unleash bloodshed.
The 330,000 person-strong city is being ripped apart by the violent cartel turf wars between the feared Sinaloa Cartel, The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), and Los Zetas.
Students, Brits abroad and even federal judges have all been gunned down through suspected assassinations as the horrific gangs all fight for the neighbouring drug port in Manzanillo.
Manzanillo welcomes in almost 3.5million cargo shipments a year – more than any other port in Mexico – meaning gangs can move on their drugs with ease.
With Manzanillo also being perfectly positioned on the usual smuggling routes for the troublesome trio of cartels.
The drug causing such carnage is fentanyl as the year it first appeared on the streets of Colima the death toll skyrocketed.
Falko Ernst, senior Mexico analyst at the International Crisis Group, suggests the drug has become an ignition point for continued violence in the once sleepy-city.
Ernst said: “It’s definitely become a big driver of violence in Mexico.
“It’s a huge cash cow for those who have access to it.”
Residents of Colima even say their homes are quickly being turned into “fentanyl factories”.
Liquid meth and cocaine trade is also responsible for the turf wars erupting across the city.
As daily reminders of the lengths the three gangs are willing to stretch too are left for all to see.
Bags of decomposing body parts, bodies hangings in public and even severed heads being chucked down the street have all been witnessed by sickened locals.
Who has been murdered in Colima?
AMONG the hundreds of brutal deaths each year in the city some stand out as the most vile.
June 2020 – Hitmen gun down federal judge Uriel Villegas Ortiz and his wife as they’re found with over 20 bullet wounds.
Ortiz had been the judge on several cases involving gang members from the Sinola Cartel and the CJNG.
May/June 2020 – Congresswoman Anel Bueno abducted by masked men and found a month later dead inside a grave
January/February 2022 – Ten prisoners massacred in prison after rival gangs came to blows
April 2022 – A 12-year-old girl was killed alongside nine others after a mutilated head was seen on the streets of Colima as a threat from the Sinola gang.
May 2022 – Brit Ben Corser, 37, and two pals gunned down in suspected cartel attack as they sat outside a supermarket
January 2023 – Seventy people murdered in just a month as uni student, cancer doctor and a 16-year-old boy among those killed
The mutilated bodies often serve as warnings to rival cartels to back away before things turn even nastier.
In 2022, tensions reached boiling point as a mass street brawl between the CJNG and Sinaloa crew broke out.
Those involved in the senseless beatings were all slammed behind bars in the same prison leading to chaos.
Days later, 10 inmates had been massacred with seven others injured as the thugs continued their fierce rivalry.
Sensationally, it was actually once the safest place to live in Mexico, with almost all locals having access to electricity, running water and a sewage system.
Even now, tourists flock to the coast of Colima for the long sandy beaches and the luxurious Moor-style hotels which can cost up to £200 a night.
But the homicide rate has tripled since 2015, earning it the title of the most dangerous city on Earth.
It comes as the streets of Haiti’s capital can be seen strewn with human bodies reportedly being eaten by animals.
Wild pigs and dogs are attacking people’s loved ones because the area is too dangerous for their families to enter, retrieve the bodies and give them proper burials.
Over 2,500 people have died in just three months of turmoil in Port-au-Prince as a horrific gang war rumbles on led by Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier.
Most dangerous cities in the world
Colima, Mexico 182 homicides per 100,000
Tijuana, Mexico 138 homicides per 100,000 people
Acapulco, Mexico 111 homicides per 100,000 people
Caracas, Mexico 100 homicides per 100,000 people
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico 86 homicides per 100,000 people
Ciudad Victoria, Mexico 86 homicides per 100,000 people
Irapuato, Mexico 81 homicides per 100,000 people
Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela 78 homicides per 100,000 people
Natal, Brazil 75 homicides per 100,000 people
Fortaleza, Brazil 69 homicides per 100,000 people
Ciudad Bolivar, Venezuela 69 homicides per 100.000 people
AlamyOutside of the death and drugs the city is also known for its beaches[/caption]
Brit Ben Corser was an innocent victim caught up in the violence in Colima
AFPThe battle for the port near Colima has become fierce in recent years with police regularly[/caption]
TwitterThe Jalisco New Generation Cartel are responsible for much of the violence in Colima as they battle against two other gangs for control of the Manzanillo Port[/caption]
GettyLocals in Colima spend their days avoiding bullets, dismembered bodies and drug related carnage[/caption]
Liquid meth and cocaine trade is also responsible for the turf wars erupting across the city
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