Bodies of two Canadians, including one wanted internationally for fraud, were found in Mexican resort city of Playa del Carmen with their throats slit
By ALEX HAMMER
The bodies of two Canadians were discovered inside a posh resort apartment in Mexico, local police and prosecutors have announced.
The pair, a man and a woman, were found at a condominium frequented by tourists in Playa del Carmen Monday, with both of their throats cut.
A third victim, a man, was also injured at the Oasis 12 apartment complex, the state prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the third victim was security guard at the complex, but did not reveal if that incident was tied to the other deaths – which are being treated as homicides. The building is located near the center of the city.
The identities of the victims have yet to be released – but cops say that one of the deceased, the man, was wanted by Interpol for fraud.
Police did not specify if the pair had been on the run, but said that the male victim was not a tourist.
The complex is typically attended by travelers, and can be rented by the night.
The incident serves as the latest in a rash of violent incidents at the state’s beach resorts, which are key to the country’s tourism industry.
A senior state official said Monday that the male victim was a fugitive who had been hiding out in the country for four years.
‘He was a not a tourist,’ the official told Reuters, without releasing the man or his female companion’s identities or ages. He did not detail how the pair were related.
Upon searching the apartment where the victims’ bodies were found, multiple identifications for the male victim were uncovered by police, local lawmen said.
The identification cards all pictured the male victim, but listed three different names.
The pair had reportedly had stayed in the resort town, situated near Cancun and Cozumel, for months – suggesting the pair may have been on the lam.
Canada’s embassy in Mexico confirmed the deceased were Canadian citizens, and said it was in contact with local authorities.
The discovery comes amid a recent rash of attacks on tourists in the area – a known hotspot for drug cartel activity – related to drug dealing or extortion.
In March, a British man was shot in his convertible while traveling with his daughter on a highway near Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo state.
The man had been permanent resident of Mexico since 2013, and was threatened by a local gang prior to the roadside ambush, police said at the time.
That same month, police in Playa del Carmen found the bodies of four men dumped near a local housing development. The fact the bodies were dumped in brush beside an access road suggested a gangland-style killing.
In January, two Canadians were killed after being caught in the crossfire of a gun battle that broke out between suspected gang members at the Hotel Xcaret Mexico, also in Playa del Carmen.
Last October, tourists from both Germany and India died under similar circumstances.
