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Feb 23, 2024 · Four warring Mexican drug cartels indiscriminately kill to assert dominance over an 80-mile stretch of resorts along the Caribbean coast to tap into the country's $30 billion tourism revenue,...
- 8 min
- Chris Eberhart
Feb 12, 2024 · Prosecutors have arrested six members of a drug gang in the Mexican resort of Cancun that allegedly killed and hacked up five people with a machete and dumped three other victims in a shallow grave.
- Overview
- Violence persists on Caribbean coast
Prosecutors said Monday they have arrested six members of a drug gang in the Mexican resort of Cancun that allegedly killed and hacked up five people with a machete, and dumped three other victims in a shallow grave.
Authorities said that five dismembered bodies were found inside a taxi on January 29 and three bodies were later found in a grave, one of which has been identified.
The gang, which prosecutors say also engaged in extortion, was protected by a network of motorcycle taxis and minors who acted as lookouts. Authorities said two minors were arrested in addition to the six alleged gang members.
Authorities also announced the arrest of 23 people on charges they operated a fake tour agency that served as a cover for drug sales in Cancun.
The suspects operated a call center in which they offered sports equipment and tour packages to tourists, but then failed to deliver them. On the second floor they had a complex operation in which drug deals were allegedly made over the phone and delivered by motorcycle. Authorities conducting a search of the property allegedly found marijuana, methamphetamines, cell phones, bank cards, laptops and seven motorcycles.
Another suspect was arrested in Cancun who allegedly both ordered drugs on social media sites - which were delivered to him by express package service - and sold them also on social media, with home delivery included.
The degree to which drugs are available in Mexico's Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo is sometimes startling.
Last year, authorities shuttered 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts, six months after a research report warned that drug stores in Mexico were offering foreigners pills they passed off as Oxycodone, Percocet and Adderall without prescriptions.
Foreign tourists have been killed in the past after getting caught in drug gang shootouts in the once-tranquil beach resort.
In 2021 in Tulum, two tourists - one German and a California travel blogger born in India - were killed while eating at a restaurant. They apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.
Last April, eight bodies were found dumped in Cancun. Just days before that, four men in Cancun were killed in a dispute related to drug gang rivalries. The dead men were found in the city's hotel zone near the beach.
Last year, the U.S. State Department issued a travel alert warning travelers to "exercise increased situational awareness" especially after dark, at Mexico's Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
- 3 min
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Dec 24, 2021 · Mexican security forces oversee the destruction of an illegal establishment used by drug dealers on the outskirts of Cancún. (Kevin Sieff/TWP) 9 min. PUERTO MORELOS, Mexico — The trouble began,...
Nov 5, 2021 · MEXICO CITY — A commando of drug gang gunmen on Thursday stormed ashore at a beach on Mexico's resort-studded Caribbean coast in front of luxury hotels and executed two drug dealers from...
Apr 26, 2023 · MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in the Mexican resort of Cancun said Tuesday they are trying to identify eight bodies found dumped in the Caribbean resort. Speaking to families of missing people, Oscar Montes de Oca, the head prosecutor of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo pledged to carry out more searches and identifications.
Apr 4, 2023 · MEXICO CITY (AP) — The killings of four men in the Mexican resort of Cancun was probably related to drug gang rivalries, authorities said Tuesday. The Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said drug gang leader Hector Flores Aceves, known by his nickname “Pantera,” or the Panther, was involved in the killings.
