Ten bodies found in Mexico’s Acapulco as drug cartel violence escalates

Ten bodies were found scattered around Mexico’s once-glamorous resort city of Acapulco, which has been engulfed by violence linked to organized crime, authorities said Tuesday.

The bodies of two women and four men were left Monday night on an avenue near a market, according to the local public security office.

Media in the Pacific coastal city reported the bodies had been thrown from a car.

A shooting in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood left three men dead and another three wounded, officials added.

Authorities found another man shot dead in the tourist part of the city.

Acapulco was once a playground for the rich and famous, but it has lost its luster in the last decade as foreign tourists have been spooked by bloodshed that has made it one of the world’s most violent cities.

The city is located in the state of Guerrero, one of the worst affected by drug trafficking in the country. Disputes between cartels led to 1,890 murders in the state in 2023.

Spiraling criminal violence has seen more than 450,000 people murdered in Mexico since the government of then-president Felipe Calderon launched a military offensive against drug cartels in 2006.

Criminal gangs are involved not just in drug trafficking but other illegal activities including people smuggling, extortion and fuel theft.

Killings and abductions are daily occurrences in the Latin American country, which has seen a wave of political and criminal violence ahead of June 2 local, national and legislative elections.

Last week, 11 bodies were found in an area of the southern border state of Chiapas shaken by turf wars between drug cartels.

The previous week, nine bodies were found in the city of Morelos in Zacatecas state — the second such discovery in as many days in the violence-plagued northern region.

Many Mexicans see insecurity as the most urgent challenge for the next government, according to surveys.

Outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has prioritized addressing the causes of crime such as poverty and inequality — a policy that the left-wing populist calls “hugs not bullets.”

Ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum — who appears on course to become Mexico’s first woman president — wants to continue Lopez Obrador’s strategy of tackling crime at its roots.

Opposition hopeful Xochitl Galvez has vowed to take tougher action against the cartels, saying: “Hugs for criminals are over.”