Corruption knows no bounds, respecting neither time nor place. Municipal traffic officers are no longer content with patrolling the streets: now they venture deep into the warehouses located in the back of Santa Fe to extort illegal fees from truck drivers. Even if the workers are sleeping inside their vehicles, they are forcibly awakened to demand money.
This is how Carlos, a trucker with years of experience on the route, describes it, explaining how this abuse works: “For every truck that enters Cancún, they charge us 1,500 pesos. There’s no receipt, no paperwork, nothing. It’s all verbal. They tell you: either you pay up or you’ll go to the impound lot.”
And the most infuriating thing is that there’s nowhere to turn to stop it. Carlos himself says with frustration: “If you report it to the Quintana Roo State Attorney General’s Office, they don’t do anything. You go to Internal Affairs and the same thing happens. We don’t know what to do anymore.”
It’s organized, relentless extortion, happening in broad daylight. It doesn’t matter if the vehicle is parked on private property or if there’s no infraction: payment is mandatory to be able to drive or remain in the area. No receipts, no legal explanations, just the threat of impounding the vehicle to force payment.
Truck drivers have become easy targets. They know they have schedules to keep, goods to deliver, and can’t afford to lose time or have their vehicle impounded. That’s why they end up giving in to the blackmail, even if it means feeding those who enrich themselves at the expense of their work.
But the problem doesn’t end there: when they seek justice, they find closed doors. The authorities that should be defending them and punishing these acts simply look the other way, confirming that this practice is protected and continues with total impunity.
While this happens without anyone putting a stop to it, Cancún is falling apart. Every illegal charge is another blow to the economy, to trust, and to the city’s image. What good are laws and complaint offices if they’re ineffective? How long will these agents continue to act as if they own the roads and the stores?
We demand an investigation into this network of illegal charges, that those responsible be identified, and that they be punished to the full extent of the law. Inaction is giving them free rein to continue robbing those who are simply trying to earn an honest living.
Source: mexicodailypost
