14 people were murdered in 36 hours in Mexico’s favorite party hotspot for young American spring breakers, Cancun, according to Noticaribe.
This is the highest number of homicides ever recorded in the country’s history within such a short period.
The figures surpass Cancun’s previous ‘record’ of nine killings in a day on November 25, 2004.
Cancun has recently become overrun with drug gangs, as violence in the tourist party town reaches unprecedented levels.
Mexico’s drug war has arrived on its idyllic beaches, with a growing crime wave threatening to leave the popular resort of Cancun a ghost town.
According to the Sun newspaper, more than 100 people have now been slaughtered in Cancun since the beginning of 2018, as Mexico’s cartels continue to spread fear throughout the country.
Most of the murders have remained unsolved.
Amid a thriving drug trade and widespread extortion, fear is rampant and threatens to have a knock-on effect on the country’s multi-billion dollar tourism industry.
Following increased violence in the popular party destination, the US have issued a ‘level 2’ advisory, which urges people to ‘exercise increased caution.’
SBS’s Dateline journalist Krishnan Guru-Murthy went out to Mexico to investigate the violence that is plaguing the nation.
“This is one of the most beautiful views in the world and we are the only people here,” Guru-Murthy said from Acapulco’s main beach.
Within hours, just before sunset, he found himself in the center of a serious crime scene—a man had been gunned down in the sand.
Guru-Murthy said he was shocked by the lack of police in some areas, with tourists unwittingly within yards of graphic crime scenes.
“It’s possible if the police don’t want anyone to notice. There’s minimum fuss and hardly any officers here,” he said.
He added: “We’ve been told that local politicians here have put the press under pressure not to report violence in this area, because if the tourists are scared away from here, it will be an economic disaster not only for Cancun, but for Mexico.”
