Warzone in Cancun
Violence has been escalating in Mexico in recent years. There are rival drug cartels battling each other for territory, and the government is fighting to stop it.
Border towns like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez have been the hardest hit by this war. It seems there are executions almost daily, including beheaded bodies left on the street, and barrels of acid left on sidewalks with bodies in them. The gangs are sending their messages loud and clear. Stay out of their way.
The police are sometimes part of the problem and many officers are on the cartels’ payroll. The ones that aren’t are often found dead.
Fortunately for sunseeking tourists, the drug war has mostly spared Cancun. Unfortunately, this immunity may be ending.
The mayor of Cancun, Gregorio Sanchez, recently hired a retiring general, Mauro Enrique Tello, to assemble a task force for keeping gang activity under control.
Somebody did not like this idea at all. The first day on the job, General Tello, his bodyguard, and driver were all kidnapped, tortured and executed.
The Cancun police are suspected of being involved. Mexican Army troops quickly seized the Cancun police station and arrested it’s chief, Francisco Velasco Delgado, and other officers. The military is now in charge of policing this mega-resort city and their presence is highly visible. Heavily armed, masked soldiers are everywhere which understandably may make some tourists uncomfortable.
Today’s Thread of the Day is at TripAdvisor.com where Cancun lovers discuss these latest developments.
I believe as long as you are not involved with disrupting the drug trade, or a member of a cartel encroaching on another’s territory, so far Cancun is just as safe as most of our hometowns.
But….
Things can change quickly and this bears watching, especially if you have a trip booked to that area in a few months like I do. Let’s hope this situation gets better before it gets worse.
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