California woman shot dead in Mexican resort town popular with Americans

 An American woman was killed in a shooting that stemmed from an apparent drug deal gone bad at a popular Mexican beach resort in the municipality of Tulum.

According to ABC News, the Quintana Roo state Attorney General's office launched an investigation into the February 9 incident that resulted in the deaths of an alleged drug dealer from Belize and an American woman, later identified as Nico, a 44-year-old native of Los Angeles. Born as Honarbaksh. ,

The deceased man was found to be in possession of cocaine and "transparent bags of red and orange pills" as well as bags of "brown granular powder" when he was murdered, leading the prosecutor's office to determine that he was likely a drug dealer. And that was part of it. the gang.

According to a statement, local reports tried to link the pair and indicated that they were involved in a relationship, but the prosecutor's office dismissed these reports as false.

Prosecutors say Honarbakhsh died as a result of a stray bullet. Post-mortem of both the bodies will be conducted as part of the investigation.

Prosecutors have identified the suspects and have begun pursuing leads to arrest them. No suspect has been named.

Other tourists have died in gang-related shootings in Tulum in recent years. Two such tourists, including a California travel blogger and a German, were killed while dining at a restaurant in 2021 when rival drug dealers opened fire on each other.

Tulum is located south of Cancún and just a few hours north of the border with Belize, also on the coast of the Caribbean Sea.

The U.S. last year issued a "do not travel" warning to parts of Mexico ahead of the popular March spring break travel period, citing gang violence and saying U.S. citizens were at increased risk for exposure to synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription drugs. "People have become seriously ill or died" in Mexico after using the pills.

Cartel members kidnap four Americans traveling across the border seeking cosmetic surgery, but two Americans and an innocent Mexican bystander are killed during a shootout.

The US State Department did not respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment by the time of publication.