Two Women Executed in Isla de Mujeres

By Lic. Edward V. Byrne View Edward V. Byrne's profile

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Hotel San Jorge in Isla de Mujeres

Cancun -- Two young women who allegedly peddled drugs on the Isla de Mujeres tourist strip were found executed in a room of the Hotel San Jorge yesterday (October 20). The women, 26 and 23, were seized by unknown persons on Tuesday. One of them had just been released from jail the day before, after being found guilty of possession of 150 grams of cocaine. She was fined 150,000 pesos (about $11,500 USD), according to court officials. They were known as local drug retailers, say authorities.

The bodies were discovered by hotel workers. Both women had been bound hand and foot, gagged and then had their throats slashed. Police said the murders are plainly an "adjustment of accounts" by organized crime. Isla de Mujeres is home to only about 12,000 permanent residents, and authorities say this is the first case of narcoviolence directly on the island.

Security in Quintana Roo state, on Mexico's famed Gold Coast, has become increasingly compromised in recent weeks. Police say the Los Zetas drug cartel controls crime there.
Previous posts on Quintana Roo violence.