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A group of gunmen riding on jet skis pulled up to one of the luxurious hotels in Cancun, shot an unidentified man, and fled before authorities could arrive. The shooting is just one of several that have taken place in recent months in the popular beach resort area as rival drug cartels wage a fierce turf war.

The shooting took place on Wednesday morning on the private beach of the Riu Hotel in Cancun, Mexico’s Noticaribe.mx reported. The shooting took place in the luxurious Cancun beach area, which has several ritzy hotels with private beaches along a beachfront boulevard.

At least two gunmen walked up to the unidentified victim, shot him numerous times, and then ran off towards a nearby hotel, where they got on their jet skis and sped away on the water.

By the time first responders arrived, the victim was already dead. A subsequent search by Mexican authorities did not yield any results.

Despite efforts by Mexico’s government to suppress negative news, Cancun has become a hotspot for violence in recent years as rival drug cartels fight for control of drug distribution and the lucrative sex trade. While most of the killings take place in the inner city areas, away from the beach resorts, as Breitbart Texas reported, killings inside resort areas and trendy nightclubs have become more and more common.

In July, a group of gunmen shot and killed a 12-year-old boy who was vacationing with his family in that same beach area, Noticaribe.mx reported at the time. The boy was not the target but was caught in the crossfire as a group of gunmen riding in jetskis clashed with another group of gunmen. The gunmen were from rival drug gangs fighting over the local drug trade.

In August, a group of cartel gunmen threw a grenade at a luxurious apartment complex called Koa Towers in Cancun, Breitbart Texas reported.  While the device did not explode, it caused widespread panic as authorities had to seal off the area until military forces could safely retrieve the explosive, which was described as a fragmentation grenade.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.