Brit traveller, 36, gunned down in 'murder capital' of Mexico
A British traveller who was shot dead alongside two friends in Mexico's 'murder capital' was unlawfully killed, a coroner concluded today. Colima, ranked as "the world's most dangerous city" has an annual homicide rate of 140 per 100,000. Seven of the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world are in Mexico.
Ben Corser, 36, was sitting in the back of a car outside a supermarket in Colima, western Mexico, in May 2022 when he was fatally shot alongside two others in the vehicle, a court heard.
The software engineer's father told a coroner the trio were 'tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time'.
Emma Hillson, assistant coroner for Cornwall, said the 36-year-old Briton had been travelling around Mexico since January 2022.
She added: 'He had been very happy and enjoying a sociable time.
'He had lived in different parts of Mexico, becoming part of the community.
'He was living with an American-Mexican family, with two other young men, Claudio and Alfredo, in Colima.
'They were skateboarders and Ben joined them in skateboarding.
Mr Corser was taken to hospital unconscious but pronounced dead on arrival there
Ben Corser, 36 (left and right), was sitting in the back of a car outside a supermarket when he was shot dead alongside two others
Mr Corser was one of the three men killed in their car on Camino Real Boulevard (pictured)
On the evening of the incident Ben, from St Just, Cornwall, and Claudio had returned from a trip to Guadalajara and Alfredo picked them up in his car before the trio stopped off at a supermarket.
The coroner told the hearing in Truro: 'While the three were in the car, outside the supermarket, all three of them, including Ben who was sat in the back seat, were shot dead.'
Mrs Hillson said police reports included one witness statement, from a woman who described hearing gunshots and dropped down to the floor before seeing a van with the driver's door open.
Police obtained evidence from video cameras around the scene which showed a grey vehicle with no identifying features.
The coroner added: 'Three years have now passed since this death.
'I am satisfied it is unlikely that further information will be forthcoming.'
Cornwall Coroner's Court heard Mr Corser was taken to hospital unconscious but pronounced dead on arrival there.
A post-mortem examination found he had received a fatal shot wound to his chest.
In a tribute following his death, Mr Corser's family described the software engineer, who had first class degrees in both fine art and mathematics as having a 'breadth that is rare today'
The keen skateboarder was living with a Mexican-American family near Colima when he was killed
According to local media reports at the time of Mr Corser's death, there has been a surge in violence in the region after the Colima drug cartel switched allegiance to the Sinaloan cartel, the country's dominant trafficking syndicate.
Mr Corser's father, Andrew, told the coroner the family had received 'no explanation or reason given' for the shooting, and there was 'no suggestion of robbery, kidnapping or anything else.'
'Police have not passed to us any information apart from the cause of death', the former primary school head teacher said.
'Apparently there has been a dramatic upsurge of violence in Colima.
'It is most likely this was a question of Ben, Claudio and Alfredo being tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
Mr Corser asked for information from the Mexican police on their investigation and what lines of inquiry they were pursuing in relation to the case.
Mr Corser pictured as a child in a photograph released by his family following today's hearing
A local woman reported seeing a grey van with the driver's door open in the vicinity of the supermarket (above) as gunshots rang out, but did not see the killer
A police report read to the inquest said a homicide investigation had been launched following the deaths, with evidence gathered at the scene.
It referred to the witness statement of a local woman who heard gunshots and threw herself to the ground before seeing a van with the driver's door open but could not give any details on those responsible.
Video surveillance from the area showed a grey vehicle with no make or licence plate visible, Mrs Hillson said.
'Investigations are continuing to be carried out,' she read.
During the post-mortem examination, a projectile was recovered from Mr Corser's body and stored as evidence, the court heard.
Concluding the hearing, Mrs Hillson thanked Mr Corser's family - father Andrew Corser, mother Lorraine Downes and brother Tom Corser - and friends for their attendance and for bringing a picture of him to court.
Earlier this month, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provided a statement to the coroner's court that 'it was unlikely further information would be forthcoming due to the time passed since the death'.
In 2024, Colima in Mexico ranked as the world's most dangerous city with a homicide rate of 140 per 100,000 inhabitants. Seven of the 10 cities with the highest murder rates worldwide are found in Mexico.
FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the state of Colima, except the city of Manzanillo accessed by sea or air via the Manzanillo-Costalegre International Airport.
In a tribute issued after Mr Corser's death, his family described him as having a 'breadth that is rare today'.
They said: 'He held first class degrees in both fine art and mathematics, he was an artist, a poet, a computer user, maker, coder and programmer, a skateboarder, a sea swimmer, wild camper, a festival goer, an actor, a yoga lover, a photographer, a music maker, a dancer.'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14825219/Brit-traveller-36-gunned-murder-capital-Mexico-wrong-place-wrong-time.html
Activists in the state of Colima, western Mexico , unearthed charred bone fragments on a ranch described as a 'death camp'
One car at the death camp was seen in an entirely burnt out state
Several chunks of bone were seen scattered across the site
Several dirty torn pieces of clothing were found across the farm
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the 'Los Chapitos' faction of the Sinaloa Cartel have put aside their differences and joined forces
One official said that many of the victims had their remains sown 'in the soil'
At least two burnt out cars were found on the farm
Just three of the 42 people's remains found there have so far been identified
Federal authorities have known about the ranch since at least 2018
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) pose for a photo in Michoacan state, Mexico
Members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) pose for a photo in Michoacan state, Mexico
Authorities who visited the site found corpses still burning on the 40-hectare farm
Activists helped uncover the remains at the site
Danger across the border: In 2022 Nine Mexican cities placed among the 10 deadliest cities in the world
- Nine Mexican municipalities were ranked in the 10 most dangerous cities in the world in 2022
- Colima, the second largest city in the Pacific state of Colima, was the murder capital of the world in with 181.9 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants
Mexican troops were dispatched to Tijuana International Airport following a weekend of violent incidents that left 24 burned vehicles across the state of Baja California, including 15 in Tijuana, a border city across from San Diego. Tijuana ranked fifth with 105.1 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022
Police in Acapulco stand near the body of one of the five men who were shot and killed at Santana's Sports and Snacks Bar. Once a top destination for the Hollywood elite, the beach resort town has been engulfed with crime and registered 65.6 murders per 100,000 inhabitants in 2022
Forensic personnel work at the crime scene where unknown assailants left the bodies of three dismembered people in a vacant lot in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Ciudad Juárez, which sits on the northern Mexico border across from El Paso, Texas, ranked ninth in 2022 with 67.7 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants
A forensic technician walks at a crime scene where unknown assailants left the bodies of men wrapped in blankets in Zacatecas, Mexico
Cruise ships urged to avoid 'dangerous' ports in Mexico amid spike in violent crime
1. Manzanilla, Colima
Cruise lines across the US are canceling stops on certain Mexican ports as crime continues to run rampant
The State Department has asked citizens to refrain from visiting the port of Manzanillo in Colima as the result of widespread violent crime and gang activity
Royal Caribbean has stopped sailing to Manzanillo as a result
Alejandro Arcos, the mayor of the southwestern Mexican city of Chilpancingo, was killed and decapitated
2. Chilpancingo, Guerrero
Investigators and forensic personnel work at the crime scene where remains of Chilpancingo Mayor Alejandro Arcos were found in a vehicle
3. Michoacán
US born Rafael Cardona was shot as he was driving near his home in the western Mexican town of Angamacurito and was rushed to a local hospital and died. His wife, Gloria Cardona, was also shot and died at the scene. Rafael was the brother-in-law of Angamacurito Mayor Humberto Pacheco
A spokesperson for the Michoacán State Attorney General's Office told DailyMail.com that American couple, Rafael Cardona, 53, and his wife Gloria Cardona, 50, were traveling in a pickup truck when they came under fire in the municipality of Angamacurito. Gloria died at the scene and Cardona was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died
4. Sinaloa
The State Department has also warned Government employees to travel to Mazatlan, Los Mochis and Topolobampo by air or sea only.
Mexican YouTuber Miguel Vivanco was found dead on a dirt road after being tortured by drug gang 'Los Chapitos'
Members of the National Guard and personnel from the prosecutor's office arrive at the scene, carried out investigations and ordered the removal of the body
5. Tamaulipas
Members of the National Guard in the border city of Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico
6. Zacatecas
Nine bodies were found dumped on a street in Morelos, a municipality in the central Mexico state of Zacatecas that has been plagued by a turf war between the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco New Generation Cartel
Mexican cops guard the scene were five bodies were left wrapped in blankets and covered with duct tape in Fresnillo. An additional four bodies were also dumped on another avenue in the city. Five of the nine victims were identified, according to the Zacatecas State Attorney General's Office
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14225239/Cruises-Mexico-dangerous-port-crime-travel-advisory.html