According to local authorities, eight bodies were discovered over the weekend in the Mexican resort of Cancun, a popular destination for tourists.
The bodies were found approximately 10 miles from the beach and hotel zone as police coordinated a search for missing individuals in wooded lots and sinkhole ponds known as cenotes.
Oscar Montes de Oca, the head prosecutor of the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo, stated that five of the bodies were uncovered at an abandoned construction site.
Three of these individuals were subsequently identified as previously reported missing persons. The remaining three sets of skeletal remains were located at a separate site in a wooded area on the outskirts of Cancun, near a disadvantaged neighborhood and close to the resort's airport. The identities of these individuals have not yet been established.
Montes de Oca revealed that the authorities estimate the bodies were deposited at the sites between one week and two months ago. According to the Mexican government, more than 112,000 people are registered as missing throughout the country.
While crime rates are higher in other regions, Cancun and similar resorts have generally been perceived as safe travel destinations. However, drug cartels have recently started to dispose of their victims' bodies in hidden dumping grounds as various cartels vie for control of the Caribbean coast and its lucrative drug trade.
Authorities also conducted similar searches in Felipe Carrillo, Puerto, located approximately 140 miles south of Cancun. Volunteers, including family members of missing persons, assisted investigators in these searches, with search dogs also utilized.
Earlier this month, four men were killed in Cancun due to a dispute connected to drug gang activity. Their bodies were discovered in the city's hotel zone near the beach. In March, a U.S. tourist was injured in a shooting incident in the nearby town of Puerto Morelos.
Cancun remains the top choice for Americans vacationing in Mexico. Last month, the U.S. State Department issued travel guidance advising travelers to "exercise increased caution," particularly near resorts such as Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum during nighttime hours.
In 2022, two Canadians were killed in Playa del Carmen, about 40 miles south of Cancun. In 2021, two foreign touristsone American and one Germanlost their lives in Tulum, approximately 80 miles south of Cancun, after being caught in the crossfire of rival drug dealers.
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