A Canadian couple was murdered in Playa del Carmen, a seaside resort near Cancun in Mexico’s most touristy region, local court sources said on Monday.
According to a police report, the victims had neck wounds that appeared to have been inflicted with a knife.
A caretaker at her residence, located in central Playa del Carmen, was injured at Quintana Roo, Mexico’s tourism flagship project that attracted 12.5 million visitors last year, according to prosecutors.
At the apartment where the bodies were found, investigators got their hands on papers showing the man presented three different identities, suggesting authorities he was wanted for fraud.
Police say they don’t yet know if the couple lived in Playa del Carmen year-round or were just passing through.
On January 21, two Canadians were killed and another wounded in a shooting at a hotel complex near Cancun.
Resorts on Mexico’s Caribbean coast (Riviera Maya) have been rocked by violence in recent months, affecting some foreigners.
In March, a Briton living in Playa del Carmen was shot dead in broad daylight while riding in his car with his daughter.
On January 26, an Argentine man, manager of a Playa del Carmen nightclub, was also murdered by two shots in the head.
In October, two young tourists, an Indian and a German, were killed in a shootout in Tulum by stray bullets attributed to a settlement between suspected drug dealers.
Quintana Roo authorities estimate that most of this violence is the result of the retail sale of drugs or the blackmailing of dealers by small dealers competing for the market.
Tourism accounts for 8.5% of the GDP of Mexico, the 15th largest economy in the world.