*Updated Mar. 22*
Cancún, Quintana Roo -
This world famous gateway to Mexico's Riviera Maya says it's ready to protect tens of thousands of spring breakers who will be flooding into town later this month. Or so city and state authorities hope. Cancún, no longer an oasis for most.
Operation Pie Tierra - best translated as "Boots on the Ground" - is now in place.
One hundred twenty specially trained Quintana Roo state police officers, backed by Mexican marine and army units, will be deployed to key regions of the city, as well as on Isla de Mujeres, to keep a watchful eye on foreign tourists. "We'll have zero tolerance for any type of crime," the undersecretary of public security told a press conference today. The special measures are not without good cause.
Quintana Roo, and especially its prime tourist destinations of Cancún and Playa del Carmen, have become a major battleground for four of Mexico's most vicious drug cartels. Each hopes to win the turf war that would give it control of drug sales and collateral criminal enterprises on the Caribbean coast. Cartels unite to declare war on Cancún Zetas, foreshadowing a "bloodbath" in Riviera Maya.
No foreign visitor to Cancún has yet been a direct victim of drug war violence, but when the bodies of two execution victims were dumped in the prestigious hotel zone last September, the tourist district's presumed immunity to such horrors vanished forever. Two executed in Cancún hotel zone. And just a year ago a Los Zetas drug peddler was shot to death in front of the Hotel Ibis at 11:00 in the morning, in front of dozens of passersby. Execution in Cancún hotel zone. The city hopes to avoid an encore.
Foreign tourists have occasionally been the victim, or claimed victim, of ordinary crimes while visiting the Riviera Maya, even while lodging at or visiting reputable establishments.. Sometimes visitors find themselves on the other side of the law, too, forgetting that a traveler enjoys no immunity from arrest for engaging in any conduct which violates local criminal statutes or ordinances.
"Zero tolerance for crime"
Mar. 16 - Cancún woes
Mar. 19 - Expanding Gulf Cartel likely behind three recent Riviera Maya atrocities
Mar. 22 - Although Yucatán peninsula safety is debatable, Gov. Borge insisted the region is the safest in Mexico, even as its primary tourist destination was placed under special security alert.
Mar. 28 - Two Canadians, two Mexicans and a bar tab of $9,415
More on Yucatán and Quintana Roo regional violence
Mar. 10 - Two Cancún chapulines ran afoul of a drug cartel by daring to sell their own merchandise as independent vendors. They paid the price for entrepreneurship.
Feb. 26 - Sexual expression carries risks: "Esto me pasó por no alinearme con los Zetas"
Dec. 26 - Cancún Int'l. Airport a "lawless" gateway for drug exports
Oct. 27 - Cancún police department infiltrated by narcotics traffickers and organized crime
Sept. 29 - Los Zetas are "dominant force" in Central America and have foothold in Belize, says U.N.
Sept. 27 - Cancún International Airport was used as key narcotics distribution hub by Beltrán-Leyva
July 20 - Machine gun fire in upscale Cancún mall terrifies hotel zone shoppers
June 22 - Playa del Carmen police officer executed, after hit men arrive by taxi
May 17 - Cancún Zetas extort even street vendors, and run sex trade, too - with INM help
May 1 - Brutal execution at Grand Oasis Cancún
April 29 - Los Pelones killer arrested in Cancún also may have been hit man for Los Matazetas
April 18 - 50 Matazeta executioners in Cancún to "recover the plaza" for El Chapo Guzmán
April 17 - Los Matazetas - the "Zeta killers" - may have arrived in Cancún, authorities fear
April 5 - Los Zetas executioner arrested near Hotel Oasis Cancún; hit team members captured
April 3 - Bodies of three narco execution victims dumped near Cancún-Mérida highway
April 2 - Los Pelones strike again in Riviera Maya
March 27 - Execution in Cancún hotel zone
Dec. 31, 2011 - Hit man with Mérida connection arrested in Cancún; admits to 30 executions
Dec. 11, 2011 - Former municipal police officer in Playa del Carmen executed
Nov. 12, 2011 - U.S. intensely focused on Yucatán security in 2008-2009, diplomatic cables reveal
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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