Two Canadians, two Mexicans and a bar tab of $9,415

Fraud takes many forms in tourist hot spots


*Updated May 7*
Cancún, Quintana Roo -
The troubles in this city just don't end. Cancún woes.

It began simply enough, as many Riviera Maya escapades do. But it ended with two Canadian tourists and their new Mexican buddies standing before the Public Ministry for the customary perp shot.

The group decided to visit a local watering hole called The Executive Tuesday afternoon. There they freely imbibed, although how much no one seems quite certain. A Spanish press account reports the men ordered "several rounds."

After the drinks came round the bill came round - $9,415. That's moneda nacional - pesos, not dollars. Even so, at today's exchange rate the tab presented to the men was over $750 USD.

They refused to pay, crying fraud. The bar management dialed the police emergency number and made the same claim. The men, it should be noted, told responding officers that their bill should have been 3,000 pesos (about $240), a sum which they handed over. But that didn't resolve their problem. All four were hauled away and charged with attempting to defraud a merchant.

This type of event is a fairly regular occurrence along Mexico's popular Caribbean coast, according to the local Spanish press, and similar incidents are reported almost every season, especially when spring breakers are in town. Sometimes unscrupulous establishments serve heavily watered down drinks. Sometimes the list price on the menu increases dramatically when the bill is delivered, or drinks and food not ordered have been added in. Other times guests are charged for premium brands not requested. The option is to pay up or face the law. Many hand over whatever is demanded and don't report the proprietor's own fraud to authorities.

The Canadians were identified as Bruce Sabor, 29, and Dow Sow, 26. They'll likely be telling their story to a Q.R. criminal court judge soon, and unable to leave Mexico until they've done so. Unless, of course, they make an escorted visit to the closest ATM machine, and hand over the bar balance plus court costs.

May 7: Cancún has recorded two tourist tragedies in recent days, one involving an American and another a Canadian. Both victims were women.

On Apr. 28 Ketlen Fleming, 40, of Los Angeles, fell from her eighth story room at the Hotel Aqua on busy Kukulcán Boulevard in the tourist zone. She crashed through an overhead skylight directly into the establishment's bar, where she had been drinking only minutes before with friends. The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m., but her companions were unaware until hotel personnel advised them.

Monday a similar tragedy took the life of a yet unidentified Canadian woman. She and a girlfriend were guests at the Gran Caribe Real, also located on Kukulcán, and visited the hotel bar. They left at 2:45 a.m., and some time after that the victim fell from the balcony of her room. The accident was reported to police about 5.45 a.m. by the surviving travel mate, identified as 21 year old Natalie Jane Archibald.

Excessive drinking is the presumed cause in both cases.

May 17 - Cancún bars push deadly drinks, alleges Q.R. newspaper
Mar. 22 - Cancún under first "Red Alert" in its history
Mar. 4 - Cancún prepares for influx of spring breakers with strong display of military muscle

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