A SQUAD of heavily armed Mexican Special Forces stormed a beach in front of stunned tourists as cartel violence grips the state of Sinaloa.
Footage shows commandos emerging from the water with guns aimed at terrified beachgoers in the resort town of Mazatlán.
The clip shared on TikTok shows the soldiers later seen on shore diving from a navy vessel into the water with guns in hand.
The exercise is believed to have taken place on Thursday but it remains unclear whether it was a planned drill.
In the past few days, the city is swirling in chaos following the arrest of a major drug cartel leader.
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Police and military vehicles are now patrolling the beaches, and tourists have been warned to stay in their hotels.
The airport has also been closed for security reasons.
The army has been deployed to tackle the cartel rampage taking hold of cities in Sinaloa since the drug kingpin’s arrest.
Ovidio “The Mouse” Guzmán, the alleged leader of the vicious Sinaloa drug cartel and former son of jailed cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was arrested during a raid on Thursday.
It was hailed by the president as a major blow to the criminal cartel - finally saving the government from the embarrassment that has plagued them since their failed attempt to capture Guzmán in 2019.
Known as the Battle of Culiacán, Mexican forces managed to capture the gangster leader but were forced to free him after heavy fighting and hostage-taking by his cartel.
This battle, however, was fought just in time to secure Mexican President López Obrador's bragging rights as he gets ready to host a summit meeting with President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau next week.
However, Thursday’s win still came at a huge cost.
At least 29 men were killed and 35 soldiers were wounded in the offensive which also led to a ferocious and widespread retaliation from the cartel.
In Mazatlán where the video was filmed, it has been reported that tourists are trapped with no flights entering or exiting the state due to airports being targeted and fighting in the streets.
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Canadians in Mazatlán have been warned by their government to be vigilant – to "stay in place" and avoid gatherings and road blockades.
The unrest was reported to have simmered since Friday as a fragile sense of calm has returned to the resort town.
