Not long ago, a Mexican friend warned me about the cartels and resorts. His basic argument was that if we lose the resorts then we lose tourism. No small loss considering the millions who travel there every year.

The resorts are safe but we do hear stories like these:

Four warring Mexican drug cartels indiscriminately kill to assert dominance over an 80-mile stretch of resorts along the Caribbean coast to tap into the country’s $30 billion tourism revenue, private investigator Jay Armes III told Fox News Digital.

In the process, Americans -- and visitors from around the world -- have become collateral damage, see gruesome violence or “just disappear, wiped off the face of earth,” Armes said.

Over the last two weeks, cartel members dismembered rival gang members with machetes in tourist hotspot Cancun; a California woman was killed in the crossfire near a popular Tulum beach; and an abducted New York man was left in a secluded jungle with his eyes taped shut.

And that’s just what hits the national news.

The problem is that you can’t fill the beach with soldiers and end up scaring tourists. Do you want to go to a beach full of guys with machine guns? You may appreciate their willingness to protect you but may change your plans the next time you are booking a getaway.

The Mexican government has always operated under the assumption that the less said the better. Sort of like silence is golden. The problem is that silence may be the policy but it’s tough to hide severed heads when you can see them.

In the past, the criminal elements have avoided resorts to avoid a big fight with the armed forces. Are they changing strategy? No one knows for sure but something is going on.

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Image: Pexels, Angel Valladares