For years, the Mexican city of Jerez has been the scene of power struggles between drug cartels. Several heavily armed men raided a city nightclub over the weekend. Six people die immediately, two later succumb to their injuries.
Eight people have been killed in an armed robbery at a nightclub in the Mexican city of Jerez. According to the authorities, heavily armed men opened fire at the "El Venadito" club in the state of Zacatecas in northern Mexico on Saturday night.
Six people were killed immediately, two succumbed to their injuries during the medical first aid. According to local media, among the victims were musicians, visitors and employees of the nightclub. Five people with gunshot wounds were still in the hospital on Sunday. According to eyewitnesses, people at the club panicked at the bloodbath.
Jerez has been the scene of violence several times in recent years. Last year, this led to the displacement of hundreds of civilians from surrounding villages. In the state of Zacatecas, Mexico's two most powerful drug cartels, Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generación, are fighting over supremacy in the illegal drug trade - especially for the United States.
A bitter drug war has been raging between rival cartels in Mexico for years. Since 2006, more than 340,000 people have been killed and around 100,000 people have disappeared. Former Mexican security minister Genaro García Luna, whose job it was to lead Mexico's anti-drug war, is currently on trial in New York. However, he is said to have helped the notorious Sinaloa Cartel smuggle cocaine into the United States and received millions of dollars in bribes in return.
