Local security officials reported finding ten bodies scattered throughout the formerly opulent resort city of Acapulco, Mexico, which has become a hotbed of cartel-related violence.
The bodies of two women and four men were left Monday night on an avenue near a market, said the public security office. Local media reported the bodies had been thrown from a car.
A shooting in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood left three men dead and another three wounded, officials added.
Authorities found another man shot dead in the tourist part of the city.
Acapulco was once a haven for the wealthy and famous, but in the past ten years, bloodshed has made it one of the world’s most violent cities, scaring away foreign tourists. After suffering damage from Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October, the city is still battling to recover. It left at least 52 dead and destroyed or damaged most hotels.
Acapulco is a part of Guerrero, one of the states in the nation with the worst drug trafficking problems. It is among six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advises Americans to completely avoid, citing crime and violence. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.
Since at least 2006, turf wars between gangs have left Acapulco bloodied. The gangs are fighting over drug sales and income from extorting protection payments from businesses, bars, bus and taxi drivers.
Deadly trend continues in Acapulco
Acapulco has seen a spate of violence already this year. Just last month, the head of traffic police was shot to death when assailants opened fire on him on a street relatively far away from the resort’s beaches.
In February, the strangled bodies of two men were found on the popular Condesa beach in Acapulco. Prosecutors said the men’s bodies bore signs of “torture by ligature” with “signs of torture around the neck.”
That same month, the state government deployed 60 gun-toting detectives to patrol the beaches “in light of the violent events that have occurred recently.”
Around that same time, at least three people were shot dead on beaches in Acapulco, one by gunmen who arrived and escaped aboard a boat.
In April 2023, three people were killed in a shooting and a subsequent chase by police officers at a beachside restaurant in Acapulco. Officials said police chased the attackers down the beach as they were “escaping towards the sea.”
Spiraling criminal violence has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in Mexico since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
A wave of political violence has recently plagued Mexico in advance of the June 2 elections. More than two dozen politicians have been killed since September last year, according to the NGO Data Civica, including one mayoral hopeful who was shot dead last month just as she began campaigning.
