Business Owners Claim Authorities Have Replaced Organized Crime in Extortion Schemes in Tulum
In an interview with MILENIO, business owners stated that, thanks to joint efforts, extortion payments previously demanded by organized crime have been reduced almost entirely. However, they now claim that the authorities themselves are responsible for carrying out extortion in Tulum.
Tourists who still visit the area and are not driven away by the sargassum on the beaches continue to face harassment from the Municipal Police. Although Mayor Diego Castañón promised that extortion would no longer be tolerated, numerous cases continue to be reported.
“We have been hearing on social media that many prosecutors have been involved in extortion. At the moment, we already have two of them who are the first to be removed because of it.
“We are also going to do the same in the traffic department, and our secretary will help us with that. If something happens, they will be dismissed. I will no longer allow this,” the mayor acknowledged during a press conference on June 23.
Police Charged British Tourists a 21,000-Peso Fine
MILENIO documented that the bribes demanded by officers and their superiors exceed 20,000 pesos. One example is a British couple, Steve and Claudia, who visited Quintana Roo in November and were stopped by Tulum traffic officers.
The couple explained that after renting a motorcycle, they went to dinner in the hotel zone near Jaguar Park, had two beers before eating, and then took a walk. On their way back, they encountered a police checkpoint.
“There was a young woman sitting in the back of their vehicle with the trunk open, crying with her hands covering her face. We couldn’t understand why she was crying, and we soon realized they must have been doing the same thing to them that they were doing to us,” Steve recalled.
In a remote interview, he explained that he took a breathalyzer test and did not exceed 0.2 milligrams per liter. However, the officers claimed that with that result he had to be detained for 48 hours.
It is worth noting that Chapter XI, Article 67 of Tulum’s Traffic Regulations states that no person may drive a vehicle on public roads with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.8 grams per liter or an alcohol concentration in exhaled air above 0.4 milligrams per liter. It also specifies that the fine is equivalent to 30 minimum wages and that the driver must be turned over to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
None of these procedures were followed in Steve’s case. Instead, the officers told him he had to pay a 21,000-peso fine, already “discounted,” and produced a credit card terminal.
“They had a card machine, a payment terminal, and we had to take out our phones and try to make it work, but it didn’t. Then they put us on speakerphone with a man who had an American accent. He said we would have to make a transfer through Revolut. So they made us transfer the full amount through Revolut.
“He then said that if we canceled the transfer after leaving, we would not be able to leave the airport. So we made the payment, and then they let us go. There was no receipt, no paperwork, you just leave. We left and never said anything because we were embarrassed. We thought we had simply been scammed,” Steve said, sitting beside Claudia, visibly angry and saddened as he recalled the experience.
While emphasizing that they do not hate Mexico or Mexicans, the couple stated:
“We would never return to Mexico. Never. And we would never recommend anyone visit Tulum because maybe other parts of Mexico are different, but definitely not Tulum. It is simply too frightening that something like this could happen, and it did. I think it happened on the second day of our vacation, and it completely ruined it.”
Businesses Face Traps Designed to Demand Money: ‘They Look for Something and They Find It’
In recent months, inspections of hotels, restaurants, and other businesses by the Federal Commission for Protection Against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) delegation in Tulum have intensified. According to business owners, inspectors thoroughly examine establishments “looking for a flaw, but everyone knows they come looking for money.”
Extortion against merchants and entrepreneurs has reached the point where the business sector has declared “enough is enough,” yet the practice continues. Fear remains widespread, and very few dare to file complaints.
“They are practically killing Tulum. Tulum is dying because there is no political will. Now the protection money has to be paid to the authorities, and as a business owner, you have to protect yourself from all of them: municipal, state, and federal authorities,” said a business leader who requested anonymity.
He explained that there are numerous traps used to justify fines that later become bribes ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 pesos. One example involves the water supply, which is provided by the state and frequently fails the required chlorination tests.
“I have cases where inspectors arrive to inspect restaurants. A few days ago, an inspector came, performed the test, and it turned out he had already brought the test with him.”
—Was the test manipulated?—
“That’s correct.”
Extortion has also reached hotels and restaurants.
The pressure is not limited to large businesses. Small businesses are also forced to pay monthly fees to avoid being shut down.
“The inspector looks for something… and finds it. You see them kneeling on the floor with a flashlight, searching in the corner, underneath the stove, trying to find anything,” complained Israel, owner of a vegan taco restaurant. He stated that “the law is being used as a tool for extortion, allowing inspectors to tell you: either follow the legal process, which costs you 50,000 pesos, or take this other route, which costs you 5,000 pesos every month.”
For this reason, many new businesses have failed in what was once considered both a natural paradise and a financial paradise.
Source: milenio
