Don't go to Mexico: Cartel expert warns tourists to stay away as drug gangs' war escalates and country's National Guard is deployed to Cancún
An expert on international criminal organizations believes foreign tourists should reconsider their plans when it comes to scheduling their vacations to Mexico, citing crime and danger amid and the country's gang wars.
The warning comes as the Cancún region has been engulfed by a rash of shootings between rival street-level drug-dealing gangs linked to cartels that have left innocent visitors killed and wounded.
Texas-based security consultant Robert Almont told the New York Post that hired assassins are not thinking twice when it comes down eliminating the opposition.
'What we're seeing is a huge increase in street fighting from the plaza bosses,' Almonte told the newspaper. 'That's how they respond when rivals come onto their turf. They don't lose any sleep over who they shoot. And if there are innocent bystanders, too bad. That's the way they think.'
As part of a security plan to protect locals and visitors in Cancún and nearby resort towns in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador unveiled a plan Wednesday that will permanently place about 1,500 National Guard servicemen in the region beginning December 1.
Defense Secretary Luis Cresencio Sandoval said the their main task will center around intelligence gathering.
Since March 2021, there have been several incidents in the Cancún region, which has been engulfed by a rash of shootings between rival street-level drug-dealing gangs linked to cartels
Two drug dealers were gunned down by a rival gang in broad daylight on November 4 on a beach near the Hyatt Ziva Hotel, pictured, in Puerto Morelos
Anjali Ryot, of San Jose, California, was one of two women killed at a bar in Tulum, Mexico, in an incident sparked by rival drug dealers on October 19. The 25-year-old, who was born in India, was visiting the Mexican resort town for her birthday
Almonte does not believe it would deter hired assassins from hunting down their prey, particularly in a country where criminal organizations are responsible for thousands of murders every year.
As of September, at least 21,495 people had died from gang-related violence this year, an average of almost 2,400 per month, according to government data.
'Mexico is not doing anything to fix the problem,' Almonte said. 'My concern is that, as a tourist, you are not going to be the target, but you might be sitting at a table next to a target, and suddenly that vacation becomes your last.'
'Things are out of control and the Mexican government does not have a handle on it,” he added. 'I'm asked a lot about travel to Mexico, and my recommendation is don't go.'
The announcement of the deployment followed the killing of two suspected drug dealers, who were executed by 15 gunmen in broad daylight on a beach near the Hyatt Ziva Hotel and adjacent Azul Beach Resort in Puerto Morelos, south of Cancún.
Videos uploaded on social media showed scores of tourists and hotel workers seeking refuge in the hotel lobby and locking themselves in their rooms at the $400-a-night resort.
Security lapses in the state of Quintana Roo also made international headlines following the October 19 murders of 25-year-old Anjali Ryot, of San Jose, California, and 35-year-old Jennifer Henzold, of Germany, when gunmen opened fire on a rival drug dealer at the La Malquerida bar in Tulum.
The shooting also injured two German men, aged 26 and 25, and a 21-year-old woman from the Netherlands.
As of result of the attack, the German government warned travelers in Tulum and Playa del Carmen not to step out of their hotels and to only use taxi companies based out of the airport or any that were recommended by the hotels while traveling to and from and airport.
According to the travel warning, 'rental cars have also been robbed there lately and sometimes with the use of gun violence.'
'Incidents and attacks, some of which were dramatic, have occurred in recent weeks, which have also affected German travelers, including one fatality. These incidents took place in restaurants, clubs and discos frequented by tourists,' the notice indicated.
A 30-year-old American woman vacationing from Kentucky was wounded June 11 at Playa Tortugas, a beach in Cancún, after two gunmen stepped off their jet skis and opened fire, killing two male workers outside a gift shop before escaping
Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced Wednesday that a National Guard battalion of about 1,500 soldiers will be permanently deployed to certain areas to combat a rise in crime that has left a sense of insecurity at resorts frequented by at least 20 million international visitors
On June 11, a 30-year-old woman visiting from Kentucky was shot and wounded after assassins arrived on jet skis and launched an attack that killed two workers inside a gift shot at Playa Tortugas in Cancún.
Government data shows that the state of Quintana Roo reported 442 murders between January and September 2021 compared with 463 over the same period last year.
The Caribbean coast municipalities of Benito Juárez - home to Cancún - Puerto Morelos, Solidaridad and Tulum, whose resorts attract about 20 million visitors a year, were the deadliest with 379 murders compared to 383 last year.
The incidents are not deterring tourists from the United States, Europe and other countries from scheduling their vacations in the area, according to Susann Rottloff, a German ex-pat who has spent the last three years living in Tulum where she works as a realtor.
'Tulum will keep growing because the Mexican government is really investing in tourism here,' she told the Post. 'People keep asking me if Tulum is safe. I am a single woman and I've never had a problem, and Tulum is packed right now.'
No comments