Cabo San Lucas beheadings: Cartel killings traumatize resort town as heads found in cooler

File photo: Harbour of Cabo San Lucas and Medano Beach. Recently Mexican officials have been finding parts of dead people near spots frequented by tourists. File photo: Harbour of Cabo San Lucas and Medano Beach. Recently Mexican officials have been finding parts of dead people near spots frequented by tourists. Photo: Ullstein Bild/ullstein Bild Via Getty Images Photo: Ullstein Bild/ullstein Bild Via Getty Images Image 1 of / 34 Caption Close Cabo San Lucas beheadings: Cartel killings traumatize resort town as heads found in cooler 1 / 34 Back to Gallery

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities in Mexico's Baja California Sur state say two heads have been found in a cooler just two blocks from the tourist zone of Cabo San Lucas.

One day earlier, the state prosecutor's office announced that two dismembered bodies were found in another cooler in the tourist corridor.

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On Sunday, state prosecutors also said the total bodies found after several days of excavation of clandestine graves had reached 18. The bodies of five women and 13 men were found in 12 graves near the Cabo Pulmo nature reserve. They were discovered off a road that runs between the reserve and the resort of San Jose del Cabo.

The wave of killings in recent months is believed to be tied to battles between drug gangs, including factions of the Sinaloa cartel.