(Cancún) A Canadian couple was murdered in Playa del Carmen, a seaside resort near Cancún, in the most touristic region of Mexico, local judicial sources said on Monday.
Posted at 8:30 p.m.
The victims had neck wounds apparently inflicted by a knife, according to a police report.
A caretaker at their residence, located in the center of Playa del Carmen, was injured, according to the state prosecutor’s office of Quintana Roo, Mexico’s tourist showcase with 12.5 million visitors last year.
In the apartment where the bodies were found, the investigators got their hands on papers where the man presented three different identities, suggesting to the authorities that he was wanted for fraud.
Police say they don’t yet know if the couple lived year-round in Playa del Carmen or were just passing through.
On January 21, two Canadians had already been killed and another injured in a shooting that broke out at a hotel complex near Cancún.
Resorts on the Mexican Caribbean coast (Riviera Maya) have been rocked by violence in recent months, some of which has affected foreigners.
In March, a Briton living in Playa del Carmen was shot and killed in broad daylight while riding in his car with his daughter.
On January 26, an Argentinian, manager of a nightclub in Playa del Carmen, was also murdered by two shots in the head.
In October, two young tourists, an Indian and a German, were killed by stray bullets in Tulum, during a shooting attributed to a settling of accounts between suspected drug traffickers.
Quintana Roo authorities estimate that the majority of this violence is the result of the sale of drugs at retail or the extortion practiced on traders by petty traffickers who compete for the market.
Tourism accounts for 8.5% of Mexico’s GDP, 15e Mondial economy.