Cancun, Q.R. — The bodies of four people were discovered shot to death in a mangrove area of the Cancun Hotel Zone Monday. The bodies were found at Kilometer 16.5 of Kukulcán Boulevard Monday morning.
Police found the deceased after responding to 911 reports of gunfire. Initially, police located three bodies, however, after an area search, the body of a fourth person was found.
On Monday afternoon, the FGE released a brief statement saying they had “started an investigation into the discovery of three lifeless bodies in the municipality of Benito Juárez (Cancun). Authorities are working to clarify facts and locate those responsible.”
Several hours after the FGE social media post, José Mathey Cruz, Municipal Secretary of Public Security, confirmed the arrest of suspects from aboard a vehicle. They were detained while driving on Kukulcán Boulevard shortly after the report of the shootings.
City surveillance cameras were used in the police search operation for those responsible. The suspects, Cristian “N” and José “N”, who were not found in possession of weapons at the time of their arrests but were found in possession of narcotics, and taken into custody as persons of interest for their possible connection to the shootings.
Mathey Cruz clarified that there was no exchange of gunfire or confrontation, only the discovery of the bodies. He said they were found in “a swampy mangrove area” located next to a hotel and not on a Cancun Hotel Zone beach.
The deceased “were not tourists, they were local people who are involved, in some way, to the sale and distribution of narcotics.”
On Monday evening, the FGE released another briefing reporting “the capture of two people for their probable participation in the events that occurred on a property adjacent to a hotel at km 16.5 of Boulevard Kukulcán in the municipality of Benito Juárez.
“In the same way, it is revealed that after a search operation, the lifeless body of another person was found in the undergrowth, with which there are now four victims related to these events.
“Authorities are working to clarify the events and find the whereabouts of other possible participants in this crime.”
A third person is wanted in relation to the shootings. Late Monday, the FGE reported on a million-peso reward “to find the whereabouts of Héctor Elías Flores Aceves alias ‘El 15’, ‘Pantera’ and/or ‘Rey’, wanted for being involved in the homicides registered at km 16.5 from Boulevard Kukulcán in the municipality of Benito Juarez.”
