8 People Found Dead on Cancun Streets: Reports

At least eight people were found dead in the popular Mexican tourist resort city of Cancun, according to reports on Aug. 22.

The dead bodies were found in the streets of the city, The Associated Press reported, which added that two bodies were dumped at two spots and four people were found shot to death individually.

Elaborating further, the bodies of a man and a woman were found dead in a taxi on Aug. 21, AP reported. And the dismembered bodies of two men were found in plastic bags elsewhere, suggesting drug cartel violence.

AP reported that a man was shot to death, and the Quintana Roo state prosecutors’ office said another man was killed while on a hammock. Another was found shot and covered with a plastic bag.

The killings didn’t take place in Cancun’s hotel area along the scenic beaches.

About a month ago, five people were killed and three were injured during a shootout in a restaurant. The armed assailants also fired shots at police, AP reported at the time.

In a statement, the Quintana Roo state government said that an officer died at the time. “There are no tourists or foreigners among the injured or deceased,” prosecutors said, adding that the four others who were killed were employees at the restaurant.

“Of the five killed, one was a ministerial police agent,” a police statement said, AFP reported.

Millions of tourists, namely from the United States and Europe, visit Cancun and nearby resorts like as Playa del Carmen and Tulum every single year.

Mexican military and police forces guard a prison in Nuevo Laredo (Northern Mexico, bordering with the U.S.) (Raul Llamas/AFP/Getty Images)

Violence on the Rise

In the first part of 2018, some 279 people were murdered in Quintana Roo state over in drug-linked violence, AFP reported, citing non-governmental organization Semaforo Delictivo.

Mexico’s Interior Department said in July 2018 that murders rose in Mexico by 16 percent to 15,973 during the first half of 2018. It’s the highest since records began in 1997, The Guardian reported.

Mexican officials have blamed the rise in killings on battles between the Jalisco and Sinaloa drug cartels, according to the Guardian. They are battling for drug trafficking routes in Baja California, located just south of the U.S. state of California.

“The figures are horrible, but there are some signs that are halfway encouraging,” said security analyst Alejandro Hope, according to TeleSUR. Hope said that the violence appeared to be flattening out in the middle of 2018.

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A major reason for the surge in violence is a lack of police.  “The police career is not a professional one,” Gerardo Rodríguez, a professor in security at the University of the Americas, told Time magazine in June. “Who would want to be on the front line against the drug cartels if there is no professional career or sufficient payment or support for them and for their families? That’s the reason local governments are relying on the Mexican army to be in the streets right now.”

Gangs have also broken up and moved to new areas, spreading the violence further, Time reported.

“The issue of organized crime in Mexico has really evolved... it’s no longer only drug trafficking groups but also gangs with other origins,” said Rubén Salazar, the director of Etellekt.