Ten bodies were found scattered across Mexico’s once-glamorous resort town of Acapulco, which has been engulfed by cartel-related violence, local security officials said.
The bodies of two women and four men were left on an avenue near a market on Monday evening, the public security bureau said. Local media reported that the bodies had been thrown from a car.
A shooting in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood left three men dead and another three injured, officials added.
Authorities found another man shot dead in the tourist area of the city.
Once a playground for the rich and famous, Acapulco has lost its luster in the past decade as foreign tourists have been spooked by bloodshed, making it one of the most violent cities in the world. The city is also still struggling to recover from the crisis hit by Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October. In any case, Otis has left 52 dead and destroyed or damaged most hotels.
Javier Verdin/REUTERS
Acapulco is part of the state of Guerrero, one of the hardest hit by drug trafficking in the country. It is one of six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to avoid entirely, citing crime and violence. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.
Acapulco has been bloodied by battles between gangs since 2006. The gangs fight over drug sales and income from extorting protection payments from businesses, bars, bus and taxi drivers.
Deadly trend continues in Acapulco
Acapulco has already seen a wave of violence this year. Just last month it was head of the traffic police shot dead when attackers opened fire on him in a street relatively far away from the resort’s beaches.
In February, the strangled bodies of two men were found on Acapulco’s popular Condesa Beach. Prosecutors said the men’s bodies showed signs of “torture by ligature” with “signs of torture around the neck.”
That same month, the state government deployed 60 armed detectives to patrol the beaches “in light of the violent events that have recently occurred.”
Around the same time, at least three people were shot dead on the beaches of Acapulco, one by armed men who arrived – and escaped – on board a boat.
In April 2023, three people were killed in a shooting and subsequent chase by police officers at a beachside restaurant in Acapulco. Officials said police chased the attackers across the beach as they “escaped into the sea”.
Rising criminal violence has led to more than 450,000 people being killed in Mexico since the government of then-President Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
Mexico was recently plagued by one wave of political violence before the June 2 elections. According to the NGO Data Civica, more than 20 politicians have been murdered since September last year – including a mayoral hopeful. shot dead last month just as she started campaigning.
