Armed men abduct several people from Puerto Vallarta restaurant

Armed men abducted a group of up to 12 people from a restaurant in Mexico’s beach resort city of Puerto Vallarta, authorities said.

In a message on Twitter, Jalisco governor Aristoteles Sandoval said such violence would not be tolerated and a search was under way for the victims and the kidnappers.

“They were not tourists or residents who work in legal activities”, Almaguer said.

The unknown number of gunmen pulled up to the La Leche restaurant, which sits on the city’s main drag, in two SUVs at about 1 a.m., according to the Associated Press.

Mass kidnappings have grabbed headlines in Mexico in recent years, including the 2014 disappearance and slaying of 43 college students by a drug gang allied with local police in the southern state of Guerrero.

Four women were among the targeted group but they were not taken by the gunmen. It has battled the powerful Sinaloa cartel for supremacy in other parts of the country, such as Baja California Sur. He said authorities were looking for those women. It’s not yet clear whether or not the cars belonged to the victims.

Puerto Vallarta became a destination for American tourists in the 1950s after it was visited by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and nowadays it is especially popular among gay and lesbian travellers.