People visiting the popular Condesa beach in Acapulco, Mexico, were in for a shock Saturday afternoon as three butchered bodies with signs of torture washed ashore.

Gruesome pictures obtained by the New York Post show a decapitated body lying face-up on the beach as tourists stood nearby; some can even be seen lounging a short distance away.

The deceased reportedly bore signs of torture and are believed to be victims of cartel rivalries. Mexican army personnel was deployed at the scene and they removed the bodies but didn't shut down the beach.

The bodies appeared in two installments—beachgoers found two of them on Condesa beach Saturday and the third was found later that day on the nearby Icacos beach, according to El Pais, a Spanish publication.

One of the two bodies found in Condesa was bound with a cement anchor while the third body found on Icacos beach had been shot in the back of the head, according to New York Post.

Acapulco, a city located in the Mexican state of Guerrero, had once been a tourist hotspot and a preferred holiday destination among many Hollywood celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor. It lost the status of a picturesque travel spot, and became a notorious site for cartel-related murders, with over 120 killings being reported in the first four months of this year alone.

The city in fact was listed among the several destinations against which the U.S. State Department issued "Do not travel" advisories. Particularly for Acapulco, authorities outlined a number of reasons including the local government not asserting control over the armed cartel members, making tourists vulnerable to heinous crimes.

"Crime and violence are widespread," the state department had said in its advisory. "Armed groups operate independently of the government in many areas of Guerrero. Members of these groups frequently maintain roadblocks and may use violence toward travelers. U.S. citizens and LPRs have been victims of kidnapping in previous years."

In 2019, Acapulco was listed as the 7th deadliest city in the world due relentless rise of murders, kidnappings, and extortions.

Beachgoers are shown as tropical storm Nicole approaches the state in Miami Beach
Reuters