*Updated Mar. 25*Cancún, Quintana Roo -
Quintana Roo governor Roberto Borge Angulo has acknowledged something that MGR and the local Spanish press in this state have long reported: taxi drivers in Cancún, Playa del Carmen and other tourist centers often work as salesmen for vicious drug cartels locked in a brutal war for markets.
The 33 year old Institutional Revolutionary Party governor admitted yesterday that many Cancún drivers are in the service of the powerful cartels as street peddlers. He said the state would open a formal investigation. Borge's remarks came less than 24 hours after unknown gunmen launched a bloody attack against a bar where several drivers were gathered Thursday evening, including a syndicate boss. Press sources have reported that the victims had links to the Los Zetas drug cartel. Machine gun attack on Cancún tavern kills seven.
They were apparently killed by rivals in the statewide turf war.
Taxi drivers have long been key players in Riviera Maya crime, especially in this city, where police say thousands of scarcely disguised drug tienditas openly sell to tourists and locals alike. Cancún Zetas extort street vendors, and run sex trade, too.
Less than half an hour south, in Playa del Carmen, the Spanish press has reported for months that the drug market openly flourishes and "anarchy prevails."
The PRI governor also said that officials believe cartel lieutenants at times circulate through the city in "cloned taxis," so they can more easily sell drugs or carry out cartel ordered executions.
"We've launched an investigation to see which groups are working with the drivers," said Borge, who held a news conference in Cancún along with 14 PRI federal deputies from Mexico's lower legislative chamber, the Cámara de Diputados.
Borge warned that the investigation would be prolonged. "It's not the work of one day," he said. "There are more than 17,000 drivers here, as well as the owners and management of the companies. Cancún has the largest taxi fleet in the southeast Republic."
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the press conference was Borge's statement that local preventivos, or municipal police, would also be investigated for cartel links. He said that task was being assigned to Quintana Roo prosecutors. Last October a regional military commander said, for the second time in a year, that the Cancún police department is infiltrated by narcotics traffickers and organized crime.
The governor made a remark which may come back to haunt him concerning the location of Thursday night's attack. Noting that the bar where the massacre occurred was far outside of the tourist zone, he implied that tourists wouldn't be concerned by a mass execution which left only locals dead.
"Cancún has distinguished itself by the hospitality of its people, and the security with which its taxi drivers provide daily efficient service of international quality to tourists and visitors," said Borge, in a statement wholly at odds with his other candid admissions about severely compromised security.
At a cruise line trade conference in Miami on Thursday, Borge made a similarly curious comment. "The perception of security is improving in (many) destinations (of Mexico), and that will help," he argued. In recent days many others, ranging from Spain's Foreign Ministry to a well respected U.S. security consulting firm, have warned about travel throughout Mexico, and especially on its Pacific and Caribbean coasts.
In late January, during an official trip to Spain, governor Borge told Madrid tourism officials that the Yucatán peninsula is the most secure region in Mexico (Yucatán safety continues to be subject of hot debate). But that same week a business leader in Cancún reported that extortion in the city had increased 200% since 2008. In 2012, he said, at least 260 businesses closed their doors as a direct result of extortion or so called "express kidnappings" (Mexico's Caribbean Riviera Maya in the hands of drug cartels and extortionists). The statistics were even worse in 2011 (300 businesses close in Cancún, Riviera Maya due to 2011 narco extortion, threats).
Neither the objective evidence nor Borge's often self-contradictory statements while trying to drum up business for his beleaguered state are likely to help his credibility in the year ahead.
Mar. 22 - Gov. Borge continues to insist the Yucatán peninsula is the safest region in Mexico, even as its primary tourist destination was placed under special security. Cancún under first "Red Alert."
Mar. 25 - According to the reliable regional newspaper Por Esto, Los Zetas completely dominate the taxi industry in Cancún's hotel zone, providing "all facilities" for drivers provided they in turn agree to peddle drugs in the area. The majority of customers undoubtedly are tourists and foreign nationals.
Mar. 16 - Cancún woes
Mar. 19 - Expanding Gulf Cartel likely behind three recent Riviera Maya atrocities
Apr. 14 - Eight found executed in Cancún; taxi drivers suspected
Apr. 17 - Highwaymen assault ADO bus on Yucatán peninsula
May 13 - "Narcotaxistas" are all over Cancún, according to this story. Most work for the Gulf Cartel, selling drugs to passengers or pedestrians, and helping to carry out kidnappings and executions.
© 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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