Members of a Mexican drugs gang posing as a tourism agency have been arrested over the brutal machete murders of eight people in holiday hotspot Cancun.
Six men linked to the crime ring were taken into custody on Monday for allegedly slaying and dismembering five people with a machete and burying three others in a shallow grave, prosecutors have said.
Quintana Roo police also seized drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and crack, and two firearms exclusively used in the Mexican military from the group, as well as motorcycle taxis that had been used to transport the bodies.
Officers began investigating the horrific murder last month after finding five hacked-up bodies discarded inside a motorcycle taxi.
It is understood that the gang – which prosecutors say engaged in extortion, vehicle thefts, and homicide – was protected by a network of motorcycle taxis and minors who acted as lookouts.
The group also operated a ‘call center’ offering tourist trips and sports equipment in the popular resort city, but then failed to deliver them. Prosecutors say the business acted as a front for the group’s illegal activities and drug dealing.
Six members of a Mexican drugs gang posing as a tourism agency have been arrested over the brutal machete murders of eight people in holiday hotspot Cancun. Pictured: Arrested gang members Ernesto Alonso N (left) and Raul N (right)
The six suspects were taken into custody on Monday for allegedly slaying and dismembering five people with a machete and burying three others in a shallow grave, prosecutors have said. Pictured: Arrested gang members Roasrio N (left) and Pablo N (right)
Quintana Roo police also seized drugs, including marijuana, cocaine and crack, and two firearms exclusively used in the Mexican military from the group. Pictured: Arrested gang members Yobani N (left) and Cristian N (right)
Officers launched their probe into the machete murders on January 29 when they discovered the bodies of five victims.
The three additional victims were discovered after the arrest of the gang members and seizure of several motorcycle taxis, including one that was reported stolen on January 11.
Officers traced the stolen bike to its last known location and discovered three bodies that had been buried in a shallow grave, according to officials.
Authorities have not released the identities of the eight victims.
But the Attorney General’s Office of the state of Quintana Roo has identified the six suspects as Cristian N, Yobani N, Pablo N, Raul N, Ernesto Alonso N, and Rosario N. Two minors, whom were not named, were also taken into custody.
Additionally, officials announced the arrest of 23 people on charges related to operating the fake tour agency which allegedly served as a cover for drug sales.
The suspects operated a call center in which they offered sports equipment and tour packages to tourists, but then failed to deliver them. On the second floor they had a complex operation in which drug deals were allegedly made over the phone and delivered by motorcycle.
Another suspect was arrested in Cancun who allegedly both ordered drugs on social media sites – which were delivered to him by express package service – and sold them also on social media, with home delivery included.
The suspects operated a call center in which they offered sports equipment and tour packages to tourists, but then failed to deliver them. Pictured: Evidence seized from the call center
On the second floor they had a complex operation in which drug deals were allegedly made over the phone and delivered by motorcycle. Pictured are drugs that police seized from the center
The three additional victims were discovered after the arrest of the gang members and seizure of several motorcycle taxis, including one that was reported stolen on January 11. Pictured is one of the seized motorcycle taxis
Officers traced the stolen bike to its last known location and discovered three bodies that had been buried in a shallow grave. Pictured is one of the seized motorcycle taxis
Monday’s arrests came one day after prosecutors confirmed an American woman and a man from Belize were shot to death late last week in what appears to have been a dispute between drug dealers at a beach club in the resort city of Tulum, south of Cancun.
The woman, named locally as Niko Honarbakhsh, was watching the sunset alone at the beach club with her dogs, and was just about to get up and pay when she was caught in the crossfire, witnesses said.
Prosecutors in Quintana Roo stressed that the woman had no connection to an alleged drug dealer also killed in the shooting Friday night.
Honarbakhsh, 44, was living in Cancun but was originally from California, according to ABC News. Local news site Riviera Maya News also identified her as ‘Niko H.’
Another man, who went by the nickname ‘Belize,’ was also killed during the shooting on Friday just after 6.30pm. The deceased had been at a beach club in the Tulum Hotel Zone – which is a coastline tourist strip filled with upscale clubs and eateries.
Prosecutors said the dead man had cocaine and pills in his possession when he was killed, and was believed to be a dealer.
They said the suspects in the shootings had been identified and were being sought.
Monday’s arrests came one day after prosecutors confirmed an American woman and a man from Belize were shot to death late last week in what appears to have been a dispute between drug dealers at the Mia Beach Club (pictured) in Tulum
Onlookers, who say the shooting occurred at the Mia Beach Club, said Honarbakhsh looked ‘so happy’ with her pets, who were ‘chilling out on the sand’ all day long.
A couple sitting behind her said they thought the gunshots were fireworks at first – and that everything happened so quickly that didn’t even have time to react.
Prosecutors denied reports in local media that the two deceased were a couple, saying a photo of the Belizean man showed him with a completely different woman.
In their statement, the State Attorney General said that ‘the female person who unfortunately lost her life had no connection with the deceased male, identified with the alias ‘Belize’.
‘Regarding the man ‘Belize’, he is identified for his probable participation in events possibly constituting drug-related crimes in the form of drug dealing and that he was part of a criminal group that generated violence in the state.
‘At the time of the events, the subject had among his belongings transparent bags containing white powder with characteristics typical of cocaine, transparent bags with red and orange pills, as well as a transparent bag containing brown granulated powder.’
The degree to which drugs are available in Mexico’s Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo is sometimes startling.
Last year, authorities shuttered 23 pharmacies at Caribbean coast resorts, six months after a research report warned that drug stores in Mexico were offering foreigners pills they passed off as Oxycodone, Percocet and Adderall without prescriptions.
Last year, the US State Department issued a travel alert warning travelers to ‘exercise increased situational awareness’ especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum. Pictured is an aerial view of Cancun
Foreign tourists have been killed in the past after getting caught in drug gang shootouts in the once-tranquil beach resort.
In 2021 in Tulum, two tourists – one German and a California travel blogger born in India – were killed while eating at a restaurant. They apparently were caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between rival drug dealers.
Last year, the US State Department issued a travel alert warning travelers to ‘exercise increased situational awareness’ especially after dark, at Mexico’s Caribbean beach resorts like Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Tulum.
Tourists, however, continue to stream into Mexico’s Caribbean coast, the country’s leading tourist destination.
Mexico’s tourism department released figures Monday showing foreign tourists spent almost $31billion in all of Mexico in 2023, up 10 per cent from 2022. About half of all foreigners visiting Mexico go to Cancun.
