A Man Was Killed For His Rolex Inside a Starbucks in Tulum

MEXICO CITY — The popular Mexican beachside resort of Tulum saw another dramatic incident of violence when a man was killed during a gunfight inside a Starbucks coffee shop on Monday afternoon.

Two gunmen entered the coffee chain in downtown Tulum and allegedly attempted to rob a Mexican businessman, identified by local media as David González Cuéllar, of his expensive Rolex watch. Gunshots rang out inside the coffee shop when González Cuéllar’s associate attempted to fend off the robbers with his own weapon. González Cuéllar was killed at the scene.

Dramatic security footage from inside the Starbucks published by Mexican newspaper Reforma showed a hectic scene.

González Cuéllar was sitting at a table speaking on his cellphone in the center of the Starbucks across from his associate—later identified as Luis Carlos Carrillo—while a man in a motorcycle helmet entered the cafe and stood nearby in line with other customers. A second man in a white baseball hat then walks through the entrance, and moves directly behind González Cuéllar, while the man with a helmet stands in line behind Carrillo. 

The two men then pull out their guns and point them at González Cuéllar and Carrillo. After a moment of shock, Carrillo pulls out a handgun, and a hail of bullets ring out throughout the cafe, with González Cuéllar in the middle. González Cuéllar appears to be hit multiple times in the crossfire and falls to the floor. The two men flee the Starbucks, as Carrillo chases after them. Terrified customers in the nearly packed coffeeshop dove under tables and huddled in the corners of the Starbucks as gunshots continued outside.

Quintana Roo state authorities arrested three people after the attack, identifying one of them by just his first name “Luis,” due to Mexican privacy laws.

Initial reports by local media alleged that the attack was related to a gang of thieves in the state who steal fancy watches. González Cuéllar, reportedly from the Northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon, lived in Tulum. Reforma alleged that Carrillo owns a local legal gun range in the area, and was a distant relative of former boss of the Juarez Cartel, Vicente Carrillo, aka El Viceroy. VICE World News could not independently verify this claim.

This week’s attack at a coffee shop chain in Tulum is another blow to the beachside town’s reputation as one of Mexico’s premier vacation hotspots. Located about an hour south of popular tourist cities Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Tulum has come to rival its neighbors along the coast of Quintana Roo, earning a reputation as a more bohemian and hippie getaway. But like the glossy cities that line the coast, the increase in tourism has also been accompanied by an uptick in violence.

In February, four city employees were found shot to death inside a vehicle with signs of torture in Playa del Carmen. Two foreign tourists died after being caught in the crossfire of a gun battle in downtown Tulum in 2021. The death of González Cuéllar was the 41st murder in Tulum in 2023, according to local media.