Four corpses were found scattered along the street in the Mexican city of Playa del Carmen, where spring break is held.
- Four bodies of adult men were found prostrate in the street on Thursday.
- The bodies were found by paramedics on the road behind the residential complex.
- Quintana Roo prosecutors said none of the victims had gunshot wounds; autopsy expected
- According to crime statistics in Quintana Roo, at least 28 homicides were reported in the state in the first 16 days of March. There were 41 murders in February.
The bodies of the four slain men were found Thursday on a street in the tourist town of Playa del Carmen in Mexico.
The shocking discovery was made by orderlies clearing a road behind a residential development in the resort town of Villas del Sol, located about four and a half miles from the beach and hotel area.
Photos from the crime scene, which were leaked and released by local news outlet Quinto Poder, show the two men lying next to each other on the road.
The other two victims were dumped near a pile of rubbish strewn along the edge of a tree-lined sidewalk near the site of the government’s Mayan Train project.
The Quintana Roo Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that none of the four victims had gunshot wounds. The names, age and nationality of the victims were not released.
A full autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.
Authorities in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, are guarding a crime scene where the bodies of four men were found near an apartment complex by sanitation workers on Thursday.
The medical examiner’s car is parked outside the apartment complex where the bodies were dumped.
The shocking results come as states struggle to contain a wave of violence sparked by warring street gangs and drug cartels as thousands of foreign visitors, including American college students, flock to the region for spring break.
At least 34.8% of foreign visitors to Mexico last year were from the United States, of which 17% holidayed in Quintana Roo, according to a report released by the Anahuac Center for Tourism Competitiveness and Research on Wednesday.
About 1,500 National Guard troops were ordered to deploy to the state’s resort towns to beef up security in December 2021.
Authorities in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, are guarding the site where the bodies of four men were found on Thursday.
The gruesome find was discovered about five miles from the popular beaches of the Riviera Maya.
The latest figures from the government of Quintana Roo, released last week, showed that at least 28 people were killed in the first 16 days of March. In February, 41 murders were registered, while in January there were 34 murders.
British businessman Chris Cleave, 54, was executed in front of his 14-year-old daughter on March 12.
Cleve, a permanent resident of Mexico since 2013, was driving on a highway near Playa del Carmen when his car when two gunmen approached his car and opened fire. His daughter received minor injuries incompatible with life.
Later that day, two suspects identified as José “N” and Lenin “N” were arrested.
On February 19, two men were shot dead and a third wounded after a group of hitmen opened fire on the Art Beach restaurant in Tulum.
This incident was preceded by the execution of two Canadians with alleged links to international criminal organizations who shot down the luxurious Xcaret hotel in Playa del Carmen on January 22.