Violence Returns to Tulum and Cancun, Quintana Roo

Several shootings have claimed the lives of locals and tourists in recent weeks in the Mexican Caribbean.

In broad daylight and in hotel areas full with tourists, six people have been killed in three different attacks within 6 weeks time on the beaches of Tulum and Cancun, both located in the northern part of Quintana Roo.

Two men were killed and a third was wounded on Thursday in a shooting on the beach in Tulum in an area that had seen a drop in the number of shootings recorded compared to two years ago.

The Quintana Roo state prosecutor’s office confirmed that the shootings occurred on Thursday but did not offer more information about the identities of the victims or the possible motive.

Tulum has been known for years as the quietest, most discreet and relaxed of the resort towns on the Mexican Caribbean coast, without the usual large buildings that are typical in Cancun.

Drug cartels operate in the state, but until recently the violence did not reach the beaches.

Thursday’s killings came two weeks after two men were shot dead on a beach in Cancun. An American tourist was injured in the June 11 attack.

Violence in the state has decreased from the high levels of 2018 and 2019, when murders rose. In the first five months of the year, the region registered 278 murders, compared to 321 in the same period of the previous year.

The state, whose economy depends heavily on tourism, was beginning to recover from the coronavirus pandemic when for a few weeks it has been affected by the increase in sargassum on the beach and the rebound in Covid-19 infections.

Source: Al Día Dallas