Brian McDonald
Ten bodies were found scattered around the once-glamorous resort city of Acapulco, Mexico, which has been engulfed in cartel-linked violence, local security officials said.
The bodies of two women and four men were left on Monday night on an avenue near a market, the public security office said. Local media reported that the bodies were thrown from a car.
A shooting in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood left three men dead and three others injured, authorities added.
Authorities found another man shot to death in the city’s tourist area.
Acapulco was once a playground for the rich and famous, but it has lost its luster over the past decade as foreign tourists have become frightened by the bloodshed that has made it one of the world’s most violent cities. The city is also still struggling to recover after being hit by Category 5 Hurricane Otis in October. Otis left at least 52 dead and destroyed or damaged most of the hotels.
Javier Verdin/REUTERS
Acapulco is part of the state of Guerrero, one of the most affected by drug trafficking in the country. It is one of six states in Mexico that the U.S. State Department advise Americans should avoid it completely, citing crime and violence. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.
Acapulco has been bloodied by territorial disputes between gangs since at least 2006. Gangs are fighting over drug sales and revenue 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. Last month, the head of the traffic police was shot dead when the attackers opened fire on him on a street relatively far 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 showed signs of “ligature torture” with “signs of neck torture.”
That same month, the state government sent 60 armed detectives to patrol the beaches “in light of recent violent events.”
Around the same time, at least three people were shot dead on the beaches of Acapulco, one of them by armed men who arrived – and escaped – on board a boat.
In April 2023, three people were killed in a shootout and subsequent chase by police at a beachfront restaurant in Acapulco. Employees he said police chased the attackers along the beach as they “fled towards the sea”.
The spiral of criminal violence has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in Mexico since the government of then-president Felipe Calderón launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.
Mexico was recently hit by a wave of political violence ahead of the June 2 elections. More than two dozen politicians have been killed since September last year, according to the NGO Data Civica – including a candidate for mayor who was shot dead last month as soon as she started the campaign.
