Canadians Killed in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico

A Canadian couple living in a condominium near this tourist area of Quintana Roo was murdered, one of the victims is a man wanted by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol). The Canadians were murdered inside their home located a few blocks from the municipal government palace on Monday, June 20. The couple lived in the Oasis condominium and were attacked with bladed weapons which resulted in the death of both foreigners, a woman, and a man.

Regarding this double homicide, the Quintana Roo Prosecutor, Oscar Montes de Oca, explained that the victims are from Canada and had been living in the tourist destination for approximately four years. The first investigations confirmed that the murdered man had a red card issued by Interpol for the crime of cyber fraud, and the search data were confirmed by the director of the international police organization.

In the Oasis condominium where the bodies of both Canadians were found, multiple false identifications and state-of-the-art equipment were also found, which he allegedly used to carry out cyber fraud from Playa del Carmen. So far with the previous investigations, it will be determined if the Canadian couple could have been victims of revenge between criminal groups or if it was a robbery in the condominium where they lived.

The prosecutor said that they will first investigate the probable perpetrators of the homicide against the foreign couple, and later they will also find out if the cyber fraud crimes were committed in their country of origin or Playa del Carmen. While the investigations continue, the state government has already liaised with the Canadian consulate to notify the victims' families.

Despite this homicide against the foreign couple, the Prosecutor of Quintana Roo assured that crimes in this matter are going down since according to his reports as authorities they registered in the last four months of this year between 15 and 20 homicides per month and currently they are reporting between three and four, while in June they already have nine homicides under investigation.

He added that during the vacation season the incidence of crime increases due to the arrival of new international visitors to the different tourist destinations of Quintana Roo, which is why they identify the season as high in terms of security.

"Temporarily the months of June and July are violent in the State, crime increases because more tourists come, more people visit and just as tourists visit us, so do the bad guys come to carry out their activities," said Montes de Oca.

According to data from the Executive Secretariat of the National Public Security System (SESNSP) in Quintana Roo there have been 617 homicides in the last five months of the year and April and May were the months with the highest incidence of crime.