The once peaceful tourist hotspot of Cancún lodged another deadly month of cartel-related violence with 50 homicides in May. The total number of murders for 2018 now sits at 207.

May was the second deadliest month in history, only being surpassed by April when 60 homicides were registered, according to Noticaribe.

The two deadliest areas within Cancún are Villas Otoch (12 homicides) and Paseos del Mar (10). The deadliest year for homicides in the history of Cancún was in 2017 when 227 murders were counted. Cancún did not reach 200 homicides in 2017 until October. Murders recorded in other parts of Quintana Roo are not included in the total. The coastal state in 2017 overall suffered 326 killings.

The ongoing violence is attributed by government officials to the wars over disputed lucrative drug markets by Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación, Los Zetas, Gulf, and independent groups loyal to the Sinaloa Cartel and Beltran Leyva. Breitbart Texas previously reported that at least 300 police and military personnel were deployed to Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Rivera Maya to boost security against escalating cartel violence impacting the hotel zones.

Cancún Homicide Cases per Year

2018 — 207

2017 — 227

2016 — 61

2015 — 37

2014 — 21

Cancún Homicides per Month 2018

January — 38

February — 27

March — 32

April — 60

May — 50

Noticaribe reports that of the 207 murders recorded in Cancún in 2018, no one has been detained on murder charges. There were at least six homicides recorded over the weekend with a recent one this past Sunday where a young male was dumped in the middle of the road with hands bound behind his back and killed with a shot to the head. On Saturday, another male was kidnapped and dumped in the roadway several blocks away after being shot multiple times.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com