Mexico's Bimbo suspends delivery routes in violent resort town Acapulco

By Anthony Esposito

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican bread-maker Bimbo on Saturday said that it had suspended some delivery routes in the violent state of Guerrero, the latest company to scale back its operations in what was once a glamorous tourist hub.

To guarantee the security of its employees, Bimbo has temporarily suspended nine routes in the resort town of Acapulco, a spokesman told Reuters. The affected routes represent less than 1 percent of the company's distribution in Guerrero, the spokesman added.

The company made the decision after two of its delivery trucks were burned. Bimbo has notified authorities of the crimes, the spokesman said.

Roiled by gang violence, Acapulco has been transformed from a favorite getaway for Hollywood stars to one of the most murderous cities in the world.

The surrounding state of Guerrero is a hub for opium poppy production, and the violence has begun to reverberate in the local economy.

In March, Coca-Cola Femsa, the world's largest Coke bottler, announced that it would indefinitely shut down operations at a distribution center that employed 160 people in Ciudad Altamirano, another city in Guerrero.

Grupo GEPP, PepsiCo's bottler in Mexico, said it would temporarily shutter its own distribution center in the city in June.

(Reporting by Anthony Esposito; writing by Julia Love, editing by Nick Zieminski)