Whereas Cancun stays a comparatively secure vacation spot for its 10 million annual guests, no vacationer hotspot is completely risk-free. In response to some current felony incidents, native authorities has deployed 600 marines from SEMAR to strengthen safety and guarantee vacationers’ well-being.
With these excessive customer figures, the town can’t afford for vacationers to really feel unsafe—over the past 5 years, arrivals have elevated by round 27%, with Individuals and Canadians remaining as Mexico’s most frequent guests.
The brand new safety technique, endorsed by Governor Mara Lezama, Secretary of Citizen Safety, Omar García Harfuch, and Semar head Admiral Raymundo Pedro Morales Ángeles, relies on 4 elementary pillars.
These efforts embrace addressing the foundation causes of crime, consolidating the Nationwide Guard, strengthening intelligence and investigative capabilities, and enhancing coordination inside the safety cupboard alongside federal entities.
The first goal is to ensure the protection of each residents and vacationers throughout the resort zone and different areas of the town by way of “peace-building and pacification efforts,” mentioned Lezama.
The 600 Marines will start patrolling Cancun seashores and Isla Mujeres this week, supported by 4 Navy vessels and 4 jet skis.
In keeping with this technique, Quintana Roo’s safety will even be strengthened by extra Nationwide Guard personnel, the governor said. Quickly, law enforcement officials will even be outfitted with physique cameras to advertise transparency, added Lezama.
Is Cancun Protected To Journey To Proper Now?
Whereas vacationers usually view Cancun and Isla Mujeres as secure locations, the current deployment of 600 Marines to handle crime has raised some eyebrows.
In current months, there have been studies of assorted crimes affecting some guests and locals, prompting authorities to decisive motion.
Proper now, Cancun authorities are chasing a felony gang of Cubans posing as pretend journalists to hold out scams and commit crimes.
The “reasonably pleasant” criminals strategy unsuspecting folks on the streets, utilizing “social engineering strategies”—a set of methods criminals use to govern folks—to acquire priceless private info and acquire entry to sometimes restricted areas.
They then proceed to commit crimes akin to car theft, extortion, and kidnapping, typically displaying a excessive degree of violence.
The rising variety of circumstances involving these pretend journalists has prompted a police investigation led by the Lawyer Normal’s Workplace (FGE), based on native information retailers. To date, the gang stays at giant.
In associated information, leaders of a felony group accountable for a number of murders within the Cancun Lodge Zone have been lastly arrested final week in Merida.
The “Navy, Military, Nationwide Guard, State Lawyer Normal’s Workplace, FGE of Yucatan and Secretariat of Citizen Safety of Quintana Roo have arrested three folks, together with the chief of a felony gang devoted to murder, extortion and drug dealing, on this municipality,” authorities said.
Relating to one other tragic incident within the space, again in July, a 12-year-old Mexican boy was killed when males on jet skis arrived at an area seashore and opened fireplace on a bunch of individuals allegedly linked to drug actions.
In 2021, an analogous assault occurred at a four-star Cancun resort, the place closely armed males arrived on jet skis and opened fireplace indiscriminately, with no obvious particular goal.
Authorities hope that with the skilled assist of those 600 marines, vacationers can deal with what actually issues: having fun with Cancun’s stunning seashores and particular Caribbean ambiance, free from security issues.
