Acapulco, Mexico (CNN) — Arrests could come as early as this week in the rape of six Spanish tourists in Acapulco, the lead investigator in the case told CNN on Wednesday.
Mexican authorities have identified the suspects and are monitoring them, Marcos Juarez said.
The six women were among 14 people victimized by a group of hooded gunmen who burst into a beach bungalow in the resort town before dawn Monday. The incident drew worldwide attention.
Mexico’s Foreign Ministry put out a statement assuring that the Spanish tourists received consular aid after the incident.
“The government reiterates its friendship ties with the Spanish people and expresses its solidarity,” the statement said.
There are seven suspects, between ages 20 and 30, Juarez said.
In addition to the rapes, the men stole cell phones, iPads and tennis shoes from the victims, investigators said.
The suspects were known to the victims, he added. Investigators believe that the victims bought drugs from one or more of the suspects a day or two earlier, Juarez said.
The victims — Spanish nationals ranging in age from 20 to 34 — are now under the protection of Mexican authorities.
Seven men who were with the group were tied up with cell phone cables and bikini straps while the gunmen assaulted the six women, officials said.
A seventh woman, a Mexican, was spared because of her nationality, Guerrero state Attorney General Martha Garzon said in a radio interview.
“She has said that she identified herself to the men and asked them not to rape her.
And they told her that she had ‘passed the test’ by being Mexican, and from that point they don’t touch her,” the attorney general told Radio Formula.
The gunmen’s motive was robbery and “to have some fun,” Garzon said. They do not appear to be a part of organized crime, officials said.
The honorary Spanish consul in Acapulco, Pedro Haces, told the state-run Notimex news agency that the victims are now in Mexico City.
Military checkpoints were set up in an effort to apprehend the suspects.
Investigators have also cordoned off the area surrounding the bungalow, which is in an open area with limited security in Playa Encantada, as they sift through evidence.
The city of Acapulco brought in roughly half a million tourists last year.
Most of them were Mexicans, including residents from the capital and Cuernavaca who flocked to beaches a four-hour drive away.
The U.S. State Department says “resort areas and tourist destinations in Mexico generally do not see the levels of drug-related violence and crime reported in the border region and in areas along major trafficking routes.”
But the agency adds that resort city bars, including those in Acapulco, can be “havens for drug dealers and petty criminals.”
43 Comments to “Official: Arrests Imminent in Rapes of 6 Tourists in Mexico”
February 5, 2013 at 4:10 PM
That type of news, coming out of mexico, somehow doesn't surprise me !!!
February 6, 2013 at 1:59 AM
Yeah, you'd expect this kind of behavior from Ohio football players, not Mexicans!
February 6, 2013 at 10:02 AM
lmao!!
February 5, 2013 at 4:25 PM
That's what you get when you travel to Mexico. I want to feel sorry for them, but I can't because people have been warned for months about the danger of travel to corrupt Mexico
February 6, 2013 at 10:03 AM
Im mexican american, and i haven't stepped into mexico in almost 20 years for the same reason!
February 5, 2013 at 4:39 PM
They are mexican nationals….. THEY ARE FROM MEXICO–READ TE ARTICLE, One man one voice.!!!!
February 5, 2013 at 6:33 PM
Matters not. They should not leave their homes. A tourist is a tourist.
February 5, 2013 at 10:14 PM
Actually, they're Spanish nationals, duh. You read the article.
February 6, 2013 at 10:55 AM
ScottyBoy STFU dumb cracker
February 6, 2013 at 10:04 AM
only 1 was mexican, the others were spaniards. i take it you didnt actually read the article?? you just saw Mexico and decided to put you 2 cents in??
February 5, 2013 at 5:15 PM
Plain and simple people; DON'T vacation/visit Mexico. It's dangerous and the government has lost control. Don't think you're safe just because you're in some posh resort.
February 5, 2013 at 5:21 PM
NONE OF THESE MEXICANS ARE TO BE TRUSTED, THEY ARE ALL COMMON CRIMINALS!…..AND DON'T YOU FORGET THAT!
February 5, 2013 at 7:13 PM
Ah c'mon Mark, sounds like YOUR kind of vacation.
Maybe all the humpin' will cure you of your racism. = )
February 6, 2013 at 12:03 AM
Oh boy! Can't wait!!
February 5, 2013 at 8:09 PM
Oh man, I thought it was the Irish. Or was it the Italians? I'm so confused.
February 6, 2013 at 2:06 AM
It's the Nazi Germans…no wait…the Serbs, the SERBS!!
February 6, 2013 at 2:01 AM
This from someone who doesn't know to undo CAPS LOCK on their fukn keyboard…
February 5, 2013 at 8:51 PM
If not in Mexico, then they bring the same to thing country. They seem to ruin everything
February 5, 2013 at 9:03 PM
They must of ruined your education, you seem to have none.
February 6, 2013 at 2:08 AM
Well "they" haven't ruined my garden at all, in fact, it's quite pretty!
February 6, 2013 at 10:06 AM
i have no idea what you said! "If not in Mexico, then they bring the same to thing country." ???
February 5, 2013 at 9:58 PM
Just a snap shot of whats to come when the Mexicoons and their drug Cartels take over the USA. They got California seems like a different country already.The Constitution no longer exists here.They make up laws as they go along just like Mexico.
February 6, 2013 at 2:11 AM
Maybe the Americans should stop using so much drugs.
February 5, 2013 at 10:17 PM
With all of the places in the world, why would anybody want to visit that cespool of a country? Just come here, and you can see the all new Mexico.
February 6, 2013 at 2:03 AM
Actually Cali always belonged to the Mexico, so the concept is not that "new".
February 6, 2013 at 10:25 AM
well not just Cali, you forgot: arizona, colorado, texas, new mexico, nevada, and utah…..
February 5, 2013 at 10:20 PM
"Image problem notwithstanding, Mexico has remained a top tourist destination for decades. It welcomed 20 million Americans in 2010, the latest year for which federal data is available." Yeah, and America welcomed 20 million Mexicans in return. However, while the Americans return home, the Mexicans are here to stay.
February 5, 2013 at 11:28 PM
Yea the Mexicans and their spawn are here to stay.
February 5, 2013 at 10:45 PM
my roomate's mother-in-law makes $70 an hour on the laptop. She has been laid off for 8 months but last month her income was $18584 just working
http://xurl.es/daikq
February 6, 2013 at 2:04 AM
Your mother makes double that on the pole, "Sophia"
February 6, 2013 at 1:58 AM
Acapulco is now as unsafe as Steubenville, Ohio it seems..
February 6, 2013 at 2:02 AM
Good thing guns are outlawed in Mexico… oh wait http://www.youargue.com/index.php/discussions/bro…
February 6, 2013 at 3:12 AM
Were the chciks hot?
February 6, 2013 at 10:57 AM
Dumb crackers
February 6, 2013 at 1:35 PM
I would say "Let's invade Mexico" and take it over. But why. It's a dump! You would have to Nuke it to clear out all the Wetbacks and make the land flat again. But then it would be a waste land. We should just invade Canada and take that country.
February 6, 2013 at 1:53 PM
Serves them right for buying drugs from the perps in the first place. I am not opposed to a little "partying" but when I visit another country I always plan on going home at the end of my vacation… not my sentence.
February 7, 2013 at 8:44 AM
No no one deserves to be treated like that RAPE, No
February 6, 2013 at 2:00 PM
our gov't needs to nuke mexico…that place is nothing but a freakshow s**thole!……wonder why theres not any other countries that want these 3rd world people in their country?………you only find mexicans in mexico and nowdays in america……..wonder why that is?……….LOL!!!!!!.NOBODY WANTS THESE CRIMINALS IN THEIR COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!…….AND AMERICAN CITIZENS DON'T WANT THEM HERE EITHER!!!!!……..WE WANT TO VOTE ON THIS SUBJECT!!!!!!!!!!…….
February 6, 2013 at 5:43 PM
Wow! I call excessive use of caps and exclamation points. 15 brain cell penalty.
February 7, 2013 at 4:07 AM
until I looked at the paycheck for $7906, I have faith that my neighbours mother was like realie making money part time from there new laptop.. there aunt haz done this 4 only about nineteen months and just now cleard the mortgage on their apartment and bourt a new Car. this is where I went, jump15.comCHECK IT OUT
February 7, 2013 at 8:42 AM
These people we want to give citizenship to, get them out of here and send them heathens back were they belong.
February 7, 2013 at 8:47 AM
Maybe we should stop spending money with any of there businesses. Maybe they woule leave, boycott. They don't hire but other hispanic anyway. BOYCOTT
February 7, 2013 at 2:09 PM
And some say drug use is a victimless crime… tell that to these idoits that just had to buy drugs in criem-ridden Mexico and were attacked!