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Arrests made in Cancun after 5 dismembered bodies found in taxi, 3 other victims dumped in shallow grave

February 13, 2024 / 6:34 AM EST / CBS/AP

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 revelations Monday came one day after prosecutors confirmed an American woman and a man from Belize were shot to death late last week in what appears to have been a dispute between drug dealers at a beach club in the resort city of Tulum, south of Cancun.

Prosecutors in Quintana Roo stressed the American woman had no connection to an alleged drug dealer also killed in the shooting Friday night. The woman appeared to have simply been caught in the crossfire.

Prosecutors said the dead man had cocaine and pills in his possession when he was killed, and was believed to be a dealer. They said the suspects in the shootings had been identified and were being sought.

Violence persists on Caribbean coast

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.

Tourists, however, continue to stream into Mexico's Caribbean coast, the country's leading tourist destination. Mexico's tourism department released figures Monday showing foreign tourists spent almost $31 billion in all of Mexico in 2023, up 10% from 2022. About half of all foreigners visiting Mexico go to Cancun.

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Violent gangbangers busted in cancun after bodies found hacked up with machete.

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Six members of a drug gang in the Mexican tourist hotspot of Cancun were arrested Monday for allegedly killing and dismembering five people with a machete and burying three others in a shallow grave, prosecutors said.

Quintana Roo police said six men were linked to the grizzly murders, which were first uncovered on January 29 when police found five hacked-up bodies inside a motorcycle taxi.

An investigation led the officers to the group, who are members of a notorious crime ring that deals in drug sales, extortion, vehicle thefts and homicide in the area.

The victims have not been identified.

After arresting the group, police seized their drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and crack, as well as two firearms that are exclusively used in the Mexican military.

Police also seized the motorcycle taxis used to transport the mutilated bodies, with one of the bikes reported stolen back on January 11.

After tracing the stolen vehicle to where it was taken from, police found three bodies that were thrown into a ditch and buried in a shallow grave.

The Attorney General’s Office of the state of Quintana Roo identified the six adult men arrested as Cristian N, Yobani N, Pablo N, Raul N, Ernesto Alonso N, and Rosario N.

The men were taken into custody along with two minors, who were not named.

The arrests came along with a larger bust of a sprawling drug operation in Cancun, where 23 others were arrested as part of a fake call center that preyed on tourists, delivered drugs and used motorcycle taxis and minors as lookouts.

Mexican authorities said the fake tourist agency did business through a call center where they offered sports equipment and tour packages to tourists at the popular resort city.

The suspects, however, would never deliver on the goods and services and just keep the money.

The second floor of the call center housed their drug dealing operation, police said, where they would secure sales over the phone and deliver them via motorcycles.

Along with the large organization, Quintana Roo police also arrested another suspect accused of buying and selling drugs on social media, with home delivery included.

A popular tourist destination, Cancun has been riddled with violent crimes in recent years , with prosecutors recently confirming the death of an American man and woman who were fatally shot last week during a dispute at a beach club in Tulum, just south of the resort city.

Prosecutors noted that the American man killed in the shooting had cocaine and pills in his possession when he was fatally shot.

He was believed to be a drug dealer, with the woman appearing to be a civilian who was caught in the crossfire, police said.

Last year, the US State Department issued a travel warning to tourists, asking them to exercise increased situational awareness” in Mexico’s resort towns over the increase in violent crime and drug busts .

But tourists seem undeterred as Mexico’s tourism department revealed Monday that foreigners spent almost $31 billion in the country last year, with about half spending their time in Cancun.

The spending figure is up 10% from 2022.

With Post wires

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American college students on spring break trip confronted with 'rifles in their faces,' given three options

First on fox: a florida state university student and her friends were robbed at gunpoint at a beachfront property in mexico while on spring break.

Travel warnings to US tourists heading abroad as spring break nears

Former D.C. police detective Ted Williams shares his safety rules for international travel to protect yourself on spring break on ‘Fox Report.’

FIRST ON FOX: Three college students' long-awaited spring break in Cancún, Mexico , turned into a nightmare when they were confronted at their beachfront hotel and robbed at gunpoint.

A father of one of the Florida State University students, who asked not to be identified, told Fox News Digital that his 20-year-old daughter's spring break vacation at the Ocean Dream Cancun by Guru Hotel turned into a nightmare.

"I researched it before they went there," he said. "It was a safe place to go. They didn't go into the inner city."

But on the very first day of their trip, his daughter and her two friends were confronted at the beach by four individuals armed with rifles.

SPRING BREAK DANGERS: 5 AMERICANS WHOSE VACATIONS ENDED IN DEATH

Located in Cancun's Zona Hotelera neighborhood, Ocean Dream Cancun by GuruHotel is directly on the beach. The three college students said that they were confronted on their first night at the Ocean Dream Cancun hotel. The teens walked out to the beach following dinner, one of the parents told Fox News Digital. (Google Maps)

The father explained that two of the individuals were dressed in camo gear, while the other two were dressed in Mexican police gear .

The four individuals pointed rifles at the three girls, accused them of trespassing, and presented them with three options. 

"You can go to the airport and leave the country before going to get your belongings. Or you can go to jail, and it won't be comfortable," the father said his daughter was told. "Or you can each give us $300 apiece."

Located in Cancun's Zona Hotelera neighborhood, Ocean Dream Cancun by GuruHotel is directly on the beach. (Google Maps)

The girls chose the third option, turning over $900.

The armed robbers allowed one of the girls to run back to their hotel room and bring back the money.

After they were let go, the girls were shaken by the experience. 

"They were scared. They had rifles in their faces." — Father of Florida State University student

"They were scared," he said. "They had rifles in their faces."

BLOODIED SUSPECT IN MISSING AMERICANS' CARIBBEAN YACHT HIJACKING TOSSED IN TRUCK DURING ARREST, VIDEO SHOWS

After the incident, the students said that they spoke with other spring breakers, who shared they had similar experiences.

"I think that is something that happens all the time there," the father said. "They saw American kids checking in, and they know they have money."

People enjoy a day at Playa Delfines (Dolphin Beach) at the Hotel Zone of Cancun, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, on Nov. 8, 2022. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

"They saw American kids checking in, and they know they have money." — FSU student's father

Nicole Parker , a former FBI special agent and a Fox News contributor, told Fox News Digital that this is a relatable story for many spring breakers and families traveling to the white-sand beaches and crystal-blue waters in Mexico.

"I think this is a typical story, these students just wanted to have fun, and then it turns," Parker said. "And the fact that others at the hotel had similar experiences is worth remembering."

COUPLE VACATIONING IN FLORIDA ARRESTED AFTER BEING FOUND PASSED OUT ON BEACH, CHILDREN GONE

"Just be very, very aware," she added.

Tourists pose for a picture in front of a Cancun sign in Playa Delfines (Dolphin Beach) at the Hotel Zone of Cancun, Quintana Roo State, Mexico, on Nov. 8, 2022. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

The former FBI special agents advised Americans traveling to Mexico to take safety precautions beforehand.

"My advice is to follow the travel advisories issued by the State Department at state.gov and register with the State Department’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program when traveling outside the continental U.S.," Parker said. "If a travel advisory is strongly worded by the State Department but doesn't cross the line of saying, ‘Do Not Travel,’ then a traveler should heed the warning and understand that various factors go into that warning. And if the travel advisory definitively says, ‘Do Not Travel’ or ‘Reconsider Travel’, then, do not travel and if you do not heed the warning and travel anyway — then do not expect anyone to come save you and make sure you have travel insurance such as emergency medical evacuation."

Parker said that people traveling to Mexico should research the resort or hotel they are staying at and identify the closest U.S. consulate.

"If you are a USA citizen and ever become the victim of a crime overseas, make sure to contact the closest USA consulate immediately. Additionally, report the incident to the FBI at fbi.gov or 800-CALL-FBI as they have extraterritorial squads that can assist host nation with conducting investigations. Additionally, the FBI has Legal Attaches (Legats) around the world that coordinate efforts with the local authorities of the host nation," she said.

"When you go to these places, you really are traveling at your own risk," Parker said. "I would always advise people to research where they are going."

Tourists hang out on the Gaviota Azul beach in Cancun, Mexico, on March 2. (AP Photo/Israel Leal, File)

In February, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico issued a stark warning to spring breakers.

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The warning, issued Feb. 26, noted that "violent crime — such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery — is widespread and common in Mexico."

The warning also detailed 10 potential threats and dangers, some of which have nothing to do with violence , but are things Americans might not even think about, such as drowning, immigration or medical emergencies.

Specific travel advisories issued by the U.S. State Department for Mexican states and cities can be found here .

Fox News has reached out to the U.S. State Department, the Mexican embassy in the U.S. and Ocean Dream Cancun by Guru Hotel for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. 

She is a native of Massachusetts and is based in Orlando, Florida.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @s_rumpfwhitten .

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Mexican Police Arrest Members of Drug Gang Behind the Alleged Killing of 8 People in Cancun

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

MEXICO CITY (AP) — 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.

The gang, which prosecutors say also engaged in extortion, was protected by a network of motorcycle taxis and minors who acted as lookouts.

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.

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 revelations Monday came one day after prosecutors confirmed an American woman and a man from Belize were shot to death late last week in what appears to have been a dispute between drug dealers at a beach club in the resort city of Tulum, south of Cancun.

Photos You Should See

Prosecutors in Quintana Roo stressed the American woman had no connection to an alleged drug dealer also killed in the shooting Friday night. The woman appeared to have simply been caught in the crossfire.

Prosecutors said the dead man had cocaine and pills in his possession when he was killed, and was believed to be a dealer. They said the suspects in the shootings had been identified and were being sought.

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 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.

Tourists, however, continue to stream into Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the country’s leading tourist destination. Mexico's tourism department released figures Monday showing foreign tourists spent almost $31 billion in all of Mexico in 2023, up 10% from 2022. About half of all foreigners visiting Mexico go to Cancun.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Copyright 2024 The  Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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https://m.facebook.com/LaAvenida35/

https://m.facebook.com/LaAvenida35/#!/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0AY3dJKffM3iHPxrHt37hZFXG7jUnLmfBdHVXexqkwb3KqK6VGU9eH6Yo9NxY5NBbl&id=791391044208993&m_entstream_source=timeline&__tn__=%2As%2As-R

Your going to have to use your translate on your device. There are a few stories about this situation

In English, the municipal police announced that the bus was an open-air type run by the taxi union and that the passengers' possessions left on the bus could be seen by passers by. The driver did not remain on the bus, which is normal procedure. The thieves were on a motorcycle. Many of the stolen items, other than money, were recovered and returned to the passengers. The police do not have an accurate accounting of the amount of cash lost because, due to the proximity of ship-departure time, the passengers were not able to file individual complaints with the authorities. A general complaint was filed. Perpetrators have not been identified or caught as of last report. Nor has the bus driver been directly connected to the crime. This is a developing story.

I dont think this particular crime is one to be worried out. It was caused by incompetence and failure to have the tourists do the right thing.

If some items were recovered how come the perpetrators weren’t identified? Interesting.

The items recovered, which included IDs, were abandoned at or near the scene. Details about this are sketchy. There are political issues here but, as a foreigner, I do not fully understand them.

Chris K - Thank you for the update. I must admit with what I have been reading on the FB site you linked, I am concerned. We have been visiting the island for close to 35 years and the reports make me sad. The residents must be concerned also.

I hope to visit again this winter for a week with my husband and then an additional week or so with a friend as I can now stay longer being retired. I have been thinking about our normal traveling around the island and had concerns about being stopped for whatever reason, especially when it is just my friend and me. I know there is crime everywhere but add in police shakedowns, and my fear factor rises.

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Killings in Mexican resort of Cancun tied to drug rivalries

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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.

The dead men were found Monday in the city’s hotel zone near the beach. The killings came as Cancun kicked off the Easter Week vacations, one of its busiest times of the year.

The state offered a $50,000 reward for Flores Aceves on Tuesday, saying he was involved in the killings. But it was the same reward offered for his arrest since a series of attacks and killings at bars in Cancun in May 2022.

In 2022, Lucio Hernández, the then-police chief of Quintana Roo, said Flores Aceves and a rival implicated in the bar attacks were members of the Sinaloa cartel, which split in the state. Two people were killed and eight wounded in shooting attacks on two bars in Cancun on May 6, 2022.

At the time, Hernández said the two “are trying to control what they call ‘the marketplace’ to carry out their criminal activities.”

He said the gangs’ activities included drug dealing, kidnapping and extoring “protection money” from business owners, by threatening to attack or kill them if they didn’t pay.

The information offered Tuesday did not give any more details on the motive in the latest killings, in which two suspects were detained. But gangs in Mexico frequently stake out exclusive areas where only they can sell drugs to tourists, and kill anyone selling drugs for a rival gang.

Monday’s killings came less that a week after a U.S. tourist was shot in the leg in the nearby town of Puerto Morelos. The motive in that remains under investigation.

The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert last month warning travelers to “exercise increased caution,” especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.

In 2021, farther south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German — were killed when they apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.

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Cancún tourists rush to shelter as armed gang storms beach at luxury hotel

Two people killed at Hyatt Ziva in Puerto Morelos in what state officials say was confrontation between drug dealers

• Cancún: from tourist beach paradise to hotbed of drug violence

Staff and tourists near the Mexican resort city of Cancún have been sent rushing for shelter after a group of armed men entered the beach outside a luxury hotel and opened fire.

Two men were killed on Thursday in what state officials described as a confrontation between drug dealers at the Hyatt Ziva in Puerto Morelos, just south of Cancún.

“No tourists were seriously hurt or kidnapped,” said the security secretariat for the surrounding Quintana Roo state on Twitter.

About 15 assailants, who were reportedly armed with “long guns”, stormed into the beach area, killing a presumed drug dealer, according to local news reports. At least one unidentified person was injured after being struck with the butt of a weapon.

The newspaper Reforma quoted a police report describing “a second drug dealer”, who tried to hide in a hotel room but was shot dead.

The Quintana Roo state prosecutor’s office blamed the incident on a “confrontation” between drug dealing gangs, which claimed two lives.

“There were no serious injuries,” the office said in a tweet.

A person who answered the phone at the hotel said she was unaware of any incidents at the site. A Hyatt spokesperson said in an email: “We understand the hotel team immediately engaged local authorities, who are on the scene investigating the situation.”

The incident sparked terror among hotel guests.

“Men with guns stormed the beach and started shooting,” tweeted Andrew Krop, a guest at the hotel. “Please spread the word and get help on this. I have no idea what to do.”

Mike Sington, a retired Hollywood executive who was also staying at the hotel tweeted : “All guests and employees were told to duck and we’re being taken to hiding places.”

He confirmed in a DM to the Guardian he was “hiding in a dark room”. He later tweeted that emotionally shaken guests had come out of hiding.

Some of the guests shared stories of “playing volleyball on the beach, gunman approached firing gun. Everyone ran from beach and swimming pools.”

The incident comes two weeks after a Californian travel blogger and a German tourist were killed at a restaurant in the nearby beach resort of Tulum during a shootout between suspected gang members.

“It was only the latest in a series of attacks in Tulum’s tourist zone,” said Vicente Carrera, publisher of news site Noticaribe.

Cancún and the Mayan Riviera, which unfolds to the south, attract millions of tourists annually and area major source of foreign income for Mexico .

But the region has been plagued by violence as drug cartels dispute territories and run extortion rackets.

Police have carried out operations targeting drug dealing on Cancún’s beaches, Carrera said, while at least seven drug cartels are thought to be disputing crime territories in Quintana Roo state.

“We’re seeing a bunch of groups wanting to occupy territories and it seems like there’s no agreement among them,” Carrera said. “The same people dealing drugs are now working extortion rackets,” he added.

Tourists – who have continued to flock to the region throughout the pandemic – represent a substantial local market for drug dealers, and thanks to their strategic locations and transitory populations, Mexico’s tourist destinations have also been prime territory for the country’s criminal groups.

Meanwhile, the government’s strategy of targeting “kingpins” has exacerbated the conflict, as crime groups fracture into rival factions competing for territory and trade.

In Cancún, at least four cartels are thought to be contesting routes to smuggle cocaine in from South America and a local drug market targeting tourists and locals.

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Tourist drug demand is bringing cartel violence to Mexico’s most popular resorts

The government has deployed a tourist security battalion to patrol cancún, tulum and the mexican riviera.

PUERTO MORELOS, Mexico — The trouble began, as it often does here, when tourists asked the hotel staff to help them buy cocaine.

It’s a common enough request across Mexico’s Mayan Riviera that the employees of the Hyatt Ziva knew how to accommodate their clientele. They called a few local drug dealers, according to security officials who investigated the incident.

But the dealers who arrived at the beachside resort outside Cancún last month came from rival cartels, part of the kaleidoscope of criminal groups who have converged on Mexico’s busiest tourist corridor. Within minutes, shooting began. Security footage shows the attackers sprinting from the beach toward the $400-a-night hotel, and tourists in bathing suits seeking cover in hallways.

“A major reason the cartels are here is because of the large demand for drugs, especially among tourists,” said Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez, the security chief for Mexico’s Quintana Roo state. “It’s a very difficult thing to stop.”

The hotel denies that its staff should be blamed for the attack.

“To suggest that our associates were, in any way, involved or bear a level of responsibility for an incident that began on a public beach is unfounded and without merit,” said Dean Sullivan, a spokesman for Playa Hotels & Resorts, which manages the Hyatt.

In recent weeks, some of the most famous destinations along Mexico’s Caribbean coast have seen alarming displays of violence, still-rare collisions between the country’s profound security problems and its glittering tourist attractions. Many have pointed to those incidents as illustration of Mexico’s lawlessness. But Mexican officials say that critique fails to account for the way tourists’ increasing demand for drugs has emboldened the cartels that sell to them.

In Tulum, a German and Indian tourist were killed by gunmen in October. In November, the shootout at the Hyatt spared tourists, but left two apparent cartel members dead. This month, gunmen arrived at a well-known Cancún beach on water scooters in another apparent targeted killing attempt. They fired their weapons before taking off into the Caribbean. No one was wounded.

In response to the series of incidents, Mexico this month launched a “Tourist Security Battalion,” sending more than a thousand soldiers and police to patrol its most visited beaches and popular nightclubs and bars. Mexican authorities have also quietly explored ways to diminish demand for drugs among tourists without arresting them or discouraging them from visiting — a delicate balance.

Officials in Quintana Roo met recently with representatives from the U.S. Consulate and diplomats from more than a dozen other foreign countries.

“The message was, “We want tourism, but please remember that it’s illegal here to buy drugs,’” Hernández Gutiérrez said.

Asked about the meeting, U.S. Embassy spokesman John Vance said U.S. officials “frequently meet with Mexican officials to make certain we provide accurate and timely information that helps ensure [U.S. citizens’] safety.”

With its mayor in jail, this city cowered to his will

The Tourist Protection Battalion has already arrested dozens of low-level drug dealers. Most are young men from surrounding states, some of the poorest in Mexico.

Those dealers are replaced almost immediately. Visitors walking down Playa del Carmen’s Quinta Avenida, for example, are still greeted by a chorus of offers: “Hey Amigo, want some weed? Some coke?” Or the more subtle: “You want to party?” — with a finger pointing to a nostril.

“We know it’s not easy to turn off the supply, as long as there is demand,” Hernández Gutiérrez said.

Even some of the troops in the battalion mock the mission. Last week, one unit was sent to a four-star hotel in Cancún to provide security during a concert. One soldier recalled watching tourists get increasingly intoxicated.

“It seems like the Americans, when they come here, just want to get wasted, right?” he asked a reporter.

Adding to the volatility: In Quintana Roo, unlike other states in Mexico, no single cartel predominates. At least six criminal groups operate in the state’s tourist corridor, including three with links to transnational trafficking organizations. The competition among them often turns violent, as groups fight over access to tourist hot spots.

Mexican beach destination tries to lure tourists back in the midst of the pandemic

In Tulum, the tourists who were killed in October appear to have been caught in a shootout between two local groups, Los Pelones and Los Compich. Authorities said gunmen from one group spotted a rival dealer in a popular bar called the Malquerida.

“The tourists unfortunately were caught in the middle,” said Óscar Montes de Oca Rosales, Quintana Roo’s attorney general.

Those groups have been at the heart of rising tourist demand for drugs in Tulum, where an underground party culture has boomed in recent years, alongside wellness retreats and yoga classes.

“Working at the hotels here, you get used to being asked to help get drugs. You know, coke, MDMA, ketamine, all of it. We make the introductions to dealers because that’s what the guests want,” said a concierge at a well-known boutique hotel in Tulum. She spoke on the condition of anonymity because she worried about losing her job.

A party promoter in Tulum described the guiding principle as “making sure there’s only one cartel providing drugs at a party, so there’s no fighting between dealers.”

Quintana Roo has suffered 650 homicides so far this year, down from a peak of 866 in 2018, but a marked increase from earlier years. The majority of those killings, authorities say, were between criminal groups, and occurred miles from the state’s tourist corridor.

In November, for example, two homicides took place in separate Cancún gyms. Several drive-by shootings occurred along the main road of La Luna, four miles from the city’s famous strip of beachside hotels. Further inland, three victims’ bodies were found buried behind an auto repair shop.

On Nov. 27, a Cuban singer, Dayami Lozada, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle. Though Lozada performed in tourist bars, she was killed — like most of the victims — in a part of the city seldom visited by foreigners.

Should you still travel to Mexico? What to know after shootings near Cancún.

In Tulum, some of the city’s most violent crimes occur in informal settlements, known locally as invasiones, where drug dealers live alongside hotel and restaurant employees, who struggle to find places to live because of soaring housing prices.

Mexican tourist officials and hoteliers have been quick to tell their guests that while Mexico can be violent, their hotels are safe.

“The first thing [we] explain is how far they are from the violent event guests might have seen in the news,” said Miriam Cortés Franco, president of the Quintana Roo Vacation Clubs.

Unlike other states in Mexico, where gangs battle for control of territory so they can move drugs toward the U.S. border, coastal Quintana Roo is no longer a major thruway for narcotics. Its value is as a market: a bubble of foreign demand for drugs within Mexico. For that reason, officials say, Mexico’s two biggest drug trafficking organizations, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, both based on the other side of the country, have sent hundreds of foot soldiers to the state.

This month, state officials tracked a convoy of 50 Jalisco cartel gunmen entering Quintana Roo.

Roughly 12 million tourists visited the state in 2021. More than 3 million of them were Americans. Because Mexico has imposed almost no pandemic-related travel restrictions, it has been a particularly attractive destination to those seeking a break from quarantines. Last Saturday was the second busiest day in the history of the Cancún airport.

Tourism provides more than eight percent of Mexico’s GDP. In Cancún, the contribution is roughly 50 percent.

Millions of tourists will experience cities like Cancún and Tulum with no indication of the violence that plagues much of Mexico. The country this year has recorded more than 30,000 homicides, for the fourth consecutive year.

Cartels are typically eager to avoid confrontations with tourists that will affect the local demand for drugs and draw the attention they’re now getting from security forces. Earlier this month, a video surfaced of two tourists driving toward Cancún along back roads in the state of Tabasco when they were stopped by armed men, apparent cartel members.

After a few minutes of confusion, the armed men, realizing they had accidentally stopped two foreign tourists, tried to calm them down.

“No problem, no problem,” one of the armed men said, and patted one of the tourists on the back, offering him a hug.

Elsewhere in Mexico, officials have seen the way violence can destroy an important tourist destination.

As killings surged in Acapulco, making the city the murder capital of Mexico, international tourism crashed. The number of foreign visitors fell 63 percent from 2012 to 2017.

How Acapulco became Mexico's murder capital

Violence there, too, was caused in part by cartels fighting to sell drugs to tourists. As in Quintana Roo, the homicides were concentrated away from tourist hotspots, but the few incidents that did trickle into hotels and restaurants were enough to scare off many would-be visitors.

“We know how much depends on our ability to make tourists feel safe,” said Andrés Aguilar, Quintana Roo’s secretary of tourism.

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US issues travel alert for Americans heading to Cancun for spring break

by The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) - The U.S. State Department issued a travel alert Wednesday for Americans planning to spend Spring break in Mexico.

The alert warns travelers to “exercise increased caution” especially after dark at Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum, which have been plagued by drug gang violence in the past.

“U.S. citizens should exercise increased caution in the downtown areas of popular spring break locations including Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, and Tulum, especially after dark,” according to the alert.

The Sate Department also noted that U.S. citizens “have become seriously ill or died in Mexico after using synthetic drugs or adulterated prescription pills.”

That warning followed reports that some pharmacies in Mexico freely offer sedatives and other drugs that can only be sold with prescriptions in the United States. The Mexican pills are often counterfeit and contain the deadly synthetic opioid fentanyl.

The alert also noted that “unregulated alcohol may be contaminated, and U.S. citizens have reported losing consciousness or becoming injured after consuming alcohol that was possibly tainted.”

There have been a series of brazen acts of violence along the Caribbean coast, the crown jewel of Mexico’s tourism industry.

In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, apparently because of debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.

In 2021, farther south in the laid-back destination of Tulum, two tourists — one a California travel blogger born in India and the other German — were caught in the apparent crossfire of rival drug dealers and killed.