Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — UPDATED: Municipal Police were at the scene of a fatal broad daylight shooting in southeast Playa del Carmen Saturday. Police arrived at a shopping plaza in response to several reports of gunfire.
The gunshots were reported by workers in the parking lot of the X’aman Ha Plaza around noon Saturday. After parking lot patrons made a run for it, police located the source of the shooting.
A black Jeep with a deceased driver was found backed into a parking stall of the plaza along Playa del Carmen Boulevard. At least three bullet holes penetrated the glass of the Jeep, killing the driver. The now-deceased has been identified as 39-year-old Canadian Matthew “N”.
Matthew “N”, a Canadian resident of Playa del Carmen, was shot when he climbed behind the wheel of his vehicle by two men who suddenly appeared on a motorcycle. He appears to have been the victim of a targeted shooting.
Police sources have revealed unofficially that the victim was wanted internationally for arms and human trafficking. Police stationed in Playacar were first on the scene. The Jeep was traveling city streets without license plates.
Witnesses reported seeing the pair responsible for the shooting flee on a motorcycle. At the time of press, police had not made any public comment regarding the shooting, nor had they announced any arrests or possible suspects.
Municipal officers remained at the scene for several hours collecting evidence, which according to reports, included more than a dozen spent shell casings.
UPDATED December 22: The deceased Canadian has been identified as 39 year old Mathieu Bélanger from Quebec. According to local information, he was living in Playa del Carmen under false Mexican documents.
On Saturday, Bélanger was found in his vehicle shot five times in the head. He had just left a gym and was alone at the time of the shooting.
In Canada he was a known as trafficker “Barbu”. Both he and his 33 year old wife, also from Quebec, were living in Playa del Carmen and considered fugitives. Both are reported to have been part of a criminal organization that supplied narcotics to the Hell’s Angels.
They had been living in the city two years. There are allegations they continued their Canadian-linked criminal activity in Playa del Carmen in the form of cocaine trafficking.
Bélanger was stopped by the SSC of Solidaridad in a federal highway filter in April 2024 and arrested after police found a revolver, ammunition and what appeared to be a large quantity of methamphetamines in his vehicle. He was later released.
According to media outlet Le Journal de Montreal, Bélanger was wanted in Canada by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) for unauthorized possession of a firearm and improper storage. His wife, Andrée-Ann Vignola “S”, 33, is also reportedly wanted by Quebec police on firearm charges. The couple moved to Quintana Roo from Oaxaca. She remains in Playa del Carmen with their children.
