The Mexican state set to host multiple games for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is making headlines for all the wrong reasons, again — as fears grow that a serial killer may be loose in a popular resort town for American tourists.
Jalisco State is once again under scrutiny after police recently discovered the bodies of three slain women, all with similar characteristics, in Puerto Vallarta.
The grizzly murders harken back to February’s violence across the state, when cartels took over the streets in revenge for the death of the notorious Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s top boss, El Mencho.
The state’s latest violence may damage its reputation as a popular tourist destination, with Guadalajara, the capital of Jalisco, set to host four World Cup matches this year — including a much-anticipated home game against South Korea.
Puerto Vallarta, a popular coastal town frequented by Americans, has been at the forefront of how the world views Jalisco, for better or for worse.
City police said they were reviewing evidence, surveillance footage, and reports related to the deaths of three women, whose bodies were found within 11 days of each other.
All the women who died were in their early to mid-30s and had tattoos, with their bodies found partially undressed and in isolated areas, police said.
The investigation remains in its early stages, officials said, as they look into the possibility that the women’s bodies were simply transported to Puerto Vallarta after being murdered elsewhere.
The cartel had been extremely active in the area after the death of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, one of Latin America’s most powerful cartel bosses, who was killed in February at a hideout west of Puerto Vallarta.
His death triggered a mass uprising from cartel members across Jalisco, as images of burning vehicles and road stops became the norm and upended hundreds of tourists’ visits to the state.
Jalisco was listed under countries for Americans to “reconsider travel” to by the US Department of State, with neighboring state Michoacán listed as a place to completely avoid due to safety concerns.
Guadalajara itself is at the center of a missing persons crisis in Mexico, which has more than 130,000 people listed as missing, according to officials.
The United Forces for Our Disappeared in Nuevo Leon (FUNDENL), an NGO that works to help find the missing, recently stated that the number of missing could fill up three stadiums for the World Cup.
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