Four bodies, including that of a municipal police officer, were found on Thursday morning along the federal highway linking Cancún to the Riviera Maya in the Mexican Caribbean. The discovery occurred near the international airport, a new shopping center, and a hotel, signaling a troubling violence pattern in a region usually famed for its tourism and beaches.
Shortly after 8:00 a.m. local time (14:00 GMT), the 911 center received multiple emergency calls from motorists reporting a dead man lying beside the highway, at the edge of a dirt road that runs parallel to the main access road to the Moon Palace hotel. When responders arrived, they confirmed a fatal gunshot wound to the head and the absence of vital signs.
Investigators from the Quintana Roo State Attorney General’s Office, specifically the Homicide Investigation Unit and Forensic Services, conducted a scavenging of the area for signs or belongings of the victim. They subsequently uncovered three additional bodies inside an abandoned warehouse at the end of the dirt road where the first body was found. Hours later, authorities confirmed that one of the deceased is a municipal police officer who was off duty due to illness, while the identities of the other three remain undetermined.
Initial lines of inquiry suggest a connection to recent operations against human trafficking and settling scores among rival criminal groups operating in the region.
National Guard officers were dispatched to nearby points following the discovery. Guardsmen were located beneath a bridge that links the Moon Palace hotel to a new shopping center with the Cancún–Puerto Morelos–Playa del Carmen highway, and patrol vehicles from the force were stationed at the site to secure the area.
Over the past weekend another incident shook the hotel belt of Cancún, when three armed men aboard personal watercraft opened fire on a lodging establishment. A 12-year-old member of a family staying at Playa Caracol, a public beach area wedged between hotels, restaurants, and shops, was struck and later died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen after emergency care and transport to a local hospital.
The state of Quintana Roo, a premier Caribbean tourist destination, has long attracted millions of visitors each year. Civil organizations, however, have warned about rising human trafficking activity, ongoing clashes among criminal groups, and the broader narcotics trade affecting the region’s safety and livelihood for residents and visitors alike.
Authorities stress that the investigation is ongoing and wider patterns of criminal activity in tourist districts will continue to be reviewed as the case develops. Local law enforcement and state agencies reaffirm their commitment to thorough investigations, the protection of the public, and transparent reporting as new information becomes available.