The bodies of four men were found dumped near a housing development in the Caribbean resort of Playa Del Carmen, according to local authorities.
Prosecutors in the state of Quintana Roo said the bodies did not show signs of bullet wounds, and no cause of death has been determined.
According to the Associated Press, officials believe the number of individuals killed and the means by which their bodies were hidden suggests the murders were tied to gang activity.
The seaside resort has been rocked with violence in recent months. Two Canadians were killed a local resort, reportedly over debts between international drug and weapons trafficking gangs.
Playa Del Carmen is not the only Mexican resort to experience violence in recent months. A shoot out took place in Puerto Morelos - just north of Playa Del Carmen - in November, which left two suspected drug dealers dead. According to local authorities 15 gunmen participated in the incident.
In late October two tourists - an Indian individual living in California and another from Germany - were killed in Tulum when they were caught in the crossfire from rival drug gangs.
Drug-related violence continues to leave bodies behind throughout the country. On Thursday, prosecutors said that seven bodies were found burned in the bed of a pickup truck in the state of Guanajuato, which is in the country's north-central region.
According to the New York Times, the violence along the Riviera Maya has done little to damage tourism to the area. Vacationers - likely weary from pandemic travel restrictions - have reportedly felt insulated from the violence as it isn't directly targeting them.
“It’s all like drug-related violence so it doesn’t affect us,” Elizabeth Sedgemore, 50, of Seattle, told The Times.
Her husband, Gregory, said he and his wife "don’t put ourselves in situations where we’re going to be in trouble. We don’t do drugs, we don’t deal drugs, we don’t stay out late — so we feel very safe.”
According to Óscar Montes de Oca, the prosecutor for Quintana Roo, some of the violence is driven by the demand that tourists bring with them for drugs and alcohol.
“Unfortunately people come to consume drugs and alcohol,” he told the paper. “They come to do things they wouldn’t do at home. This demand creates a supply and that generates all the conflict.”
