Cartel violence, including homicides and kidnappings, continues in Cancun and nearby regions as criminal cartels continue to battle.
The groups tied to factions of the Sinaloa Cartel and Cartel Jalisco New Generation are fighting for control of the region’s lucrative drug distribution and other businesses catering to tourists.
The violence in Cancun and surrounding areas, such as Playa Del Carmen, Tulum, and Isla Mujeres, persists due to the high number of tourists visiting the region.
Drug cartels in Cancun and surrounding areas strive to dominate the local drug and sex trade, liquor industry, and other commodities that cater to tourists. They have also been known to extort protection money from local businesses or coerce them, particularly bars and restaurants, into selling drugs.
Earlier this week, the local police chief in Isla Mujeres, Lourdes Espin Alarco, received a threat when a group of gunmen dumped a severed human head in Cancun. The incident marks the second time in two days that a severed head had been found in or near Cancun. According to NotiCaribe, a local news outlet, neighbors called 911 and authorities responded to the Supermanzana (Block 204) to document the crime scene. Additionally, on Monday, gunmen dumped a dismembered body without a head in the area.
The message accused the local police chief of working with a man named El 15. She allegedly provided protection to his criminal group in exchange for bribes, Infobae reported.
According to the Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office, El 15 is Hector Elias Flore Aceves, a lieutenant with the Sinaloa Cartel, who has been linked to several murders in Cancun and surrounding areas.
Over the weekend, violence in the Cancun area continued with a fatal shooting in a low-income neighborhood called Maya in the city of Tulum. Gunmen killed a man and injured a woman in the attack. According to local news outlet NotiCaribe, 43 killings have occurred in Tulum since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, authorities found the body of an unidentified man in an abandoned construction site in the Doctores neighborhood of Cancun on Thursday, after he had been kidnapped earlier in the day. The perpetrators of both incidents remain unknown, and no arrests have been made.
