Thus they avoid revolution. Something has changed. Jalisco New Generation is not only the biggest and the strongest cartel, but it is also the most violent cartel we have in Mexico.. The cartels in Mexico engage in a variety of criminal activities, including the importation of drugs into the United States. Chichn Itz and Tulum are two important Maya archaeological sites in the state. They are not targeting the tourists, but they may fight a cartel rival if they see them out in the shops or eating and drinking in tourist areas. Operation Quintana Roo, which began in February 2009, was most recently at Quintana Roo, Mexico. They never once got in the water or ordered a drink. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), according to aCRS report, operates in Mexico City and 27 states, and is the most powerful criminal organization in six states. The short answer is no, the cartel does not own resorts in Mexico. There is a baffling amount of information available to you if you just take the time to notice it. He takes your money for the drugs. Who do you think owns those large all-inclusive resorts? The cigar salesman gives you a price, but doesnt take your money. He added: Have you ever been close to a firefight? A stray bullet hit the woman's shoulder when she was caught in the crossfire while relaxing under a palm-roofed hut. If you are a tourist who wants to buy drugs in Mexico, one of the easiest way of doing it is to ask a waiter at your hotel. The goal is to create a holistic and accurate understanding of TCO operations by utilizing open-source data. For it being a sold out property you find your self dining with one other table. View our online Press Pack. Becky Dullaway, 50, from Hastings, was on a break with a party of ten, including husband Steve, 52, two daughters, Alisha, 30, and Shannon, 24, and their five grandchildren. Drug-related violence in Mexico has increased massively in recent years with murders now commonplace. While there is a small chance of getting caught up in the crossfire of a cartel gun battle, that risk is also present in the gang territories of all the big cities in America. Security was trying hard to fit in by acting like guests, but they missed one key detail. Moving cocaine peacefully without chopping off heads is the Mexico of old and Cancun has stuck to the old plan of maintaining business and peace among the masses. Is it safe to visit Mexico right now? There's a lot of money there and you have people from all over the world who go there to party and vacation. But I didnt know how much income those tourists also provided directly to the cartels in terms of illicit drug sales. When the money changes hands the cigar salesman wont even be on the same beach. Despite this, it is possible that the organized group will launder the funds obtained from the transactions. The Mexican drug cartels are battling each other over drug distribution territories. Counting the stamps in my passports shows that Ive visited Mexico 17 times in the last 18 years. Hundreds of bodies have been found, dumped in drainage canals, buried in fields and the patios and yards of homes. Why do I think its safe when the government and all media sources are constantly telling us how dangerous Mexico is? There are many reasons to visit Cancun in Mexico. It resulted in the ongoing battle between the Gulf Cartel Los Zetas and the Monarchy. Jalisco uses quasi-military tactics, and their gangsters like to wear military camouflage and parade in convoys of dozens of pick-up trucks marked with the letters "CJNG". Officers, wearing bullet-proof jackets, discreetly carry 9mm Beretta semi-automatic handguns on their hip, as well as flick knives. There are also several other notable attractions, including the Akumal and Playa del Carmen resorts, the Cancn cenote, and the Mayan ruins of Uxmal. The government has found itself co-existing with crime groups in order to keep the peace along the beautiful coastline, which makes the state prosper. The most active Mexican cartel in Colombian territory is the Sinaloa Cartel, which partners with the National Liberation Army (ELN, in Spanish), dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC, in Spanish), and the criminal gang Clan del Golfo, the news agency Reuters reported. The businessman claims that members of the citys dominant drug cartel extorted him to keep his business safe. The cocaine port that housed numerous criminal organizations was spun into havoc. 47 51 51 Comments According to the police, the hitmen were members of the Sinaloa drug gang. The previous August, eight bodies were found strewn across the citys streets with two victims found dismembered and discovered in plastic bags. The hotels lifeguard, named locally as Carlos Manuel N, had been hit in the knee with a bullet fired by an angry beach vendor selling alpaca jewellery. The murder rate in Quintana Roo has increased by 335 per cent in the last two years, with 840 homicides in 2018, despite a population of just 1.5 million people. I have no idea what those two were actually doing, but I would guess that the couple was somehow being trafficked from one location to another. The South Texas HIDTA region is home to a number of smaller drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). There was quite a bit of drama involved in this process. We seldom saw the same vendor more than once or twice a day. They were all so friendly and made our stay unforgettable! Mexicos Jalisco Cartel, which has frequently publicly clashed with the military, has emerged as one of the most powerful criminal groups in the country. This in itself means some politicians are handpicked by powerful cartels like the Zetas. Within 30-60 minutes a third salesman drops off your drugs. After several attempts to calm this matter, you turned aggressive not only towards our staff but also with another guest in the near surroundings who came out of his room to request you to calm down and stop insulting the staff.Our staff contained the situation with the help of our Night Manager and security department, advising you that should you continue to conduct yourself in this violent manner, we would have to involve the Police. Just two months ago, the leader of one of the drug gangs battling for Playa del Carmen the feared Sinaloa Cartel gave an anonymous interview from a narco safe house in the city. I struck up a conversation with another hotel guest as he smoked a joint on the beach. The Zetas, a paramilitary group founded by former Mexican military personnel, and the Beltrn-Leyva Cartel, based in Michoacn, Mexico, are two examples. Cartel violence, by gangs including the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (top right), has taken over tourist hotspots from Cancun to Tulum, Mexico, leaving foreign vacationers like Jennifer. Indeed, the citys tourist police chief Cesar Augusto Escamilla Pacheco told The Sun: Robbery is the biggest problem here - the same as a lot of holiday destinations.. FROM brutal beheadings to violent kidnappings, the cartel wars of Cancun have unleashed horror on Mexico's Caribbean coast as gangsters wreak havoc yards away from luxury resorts. But Brit hotel guests are convinced the attack was linked to cartel activity. One day on this vacation, I spent quite a bit of time working on some of the drills I use to refine my intuition. As the murder rate spirals out of control, the Mexican government has now taken charge of all 11 police forces in Quintana Roo to try and regain order. Ive been following some shamanic pathways I learned in the jungles of Peru and some exercises Ive picked up in books. CJNG have been targeted several times. In Playa del Carmen, the murder rate sees no sign of slowing down. Youre not going to live by those rules. Nueva Generacin has become more volatile as a result of the arrest of Gonzlez Valencia in February. I cannot believe I was so nave to take my family there.. We tourists are literally the geese who lay golden eggs. No book, no phone, no digital entertainment. In 2016, there were 7,593 reported cases of violence related to the drug trade in the South Texas HIDTA region, which is up 2% from the previous year. Five were shot dead the following month in a bar. After a days worth of observation and talking to a few of my fellow American travelers who had made some drug purchases the previous day, I was truly enlightened. Next time you get hammered and stumble down the Cancun tourist strip without getting mugged, you may just want to thank the local cartel hitman. The dealers walk back and forth on the beach pretending to sell some type of product. The water provided by the hotel is the Only option and it WILL make you sick! So long as the tourist doesnt get involved in drug sales, doesnt openly insult cartel members, and stays away from prostitutes, the chance of the tourist getting killed in Mexico is close to zero. We also saw military police officers some covering their faces standing in the back of the trucks with AR rifles drawn. There's been a rise in violence across all of the Yucatan Peninsula, as cartels are making a bigger push into the resort cities. They arent selling cigars. The gunmen executed two people - reportedly street vendors selling craft items - on the beach before escaping across the water. They are responsible for thousands of deaths each year, often using extreme methods such as beheadings and public executions to intimidate their rivals and instill fear in the general population. The Tijuana Cartel and the Sinaloa Cartel have both been linked to the organization for more than 25 years. The small boats cruise from multiple Central American destinations and land in unwatched Mexican coastline. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. They reportedly post videos on social media, usually featuring a few dozen heavily-armed, camouflage-clad men, announcing they have come to "clean up the town". I have very little security concerns about the Riviera Maya area between Cancun and Playa del Carmen. If the tourists stop coming to Mexico, it becomes much harder for the cartels to operate. Acapulco was a highly touted destination from the 1950s, all the way to the early 2000s. However, Cancn is also known for its drug cartels. In 2019, crime in Mexico was a serious issue. Do Cartels own large resorts? In addition to El Mencho, who is also known as Nemesio Oseguera, authorities in Mexico and the United States are looking for the cartels leader. None of them were wearing the hotel bracelet. They arent helpful if you have any questions. In general, though, safety in Cancun is generally considered to be better than other parts of the Yucatan Peninsula. The food is mostly crap buffet food that sits around a open forum all day long and isnt replenished, and there restaurants that demand reservations so far in advance are empty, you walk in and they tell you to wait 20 minutes so they can set up the outside terrace but its 9:30.. then when you sit at 9:30 your told to order everything right away so the staff can go home. "They're killing each other," added her friend, Brent Piece, 60, a retired Canadian whose young . I knew that the drug lords want to keep tourists coming in. We like a quieter and more local feel than what the big all inclusive resorts provide. We booked at a very large and fairly swanky all-inclusive resort hotel. There are areas in Mexico that foreign travelers should avoid, and to figure out is Cabo San Lucas safe, the best resource is the U.S. Department of State. This is an unsafe hotel and I highly advise all to stick with what you are familiar with, Waldorf Astoria, EDITION, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Secrets!!!! Places like the Cancun are therefore relatively safe. For the cartels, it's all about controlling their turf and controlling all aspects of criminal activity, he said. 4 This was hands down the best decision weve ever made! In recent years the government has taken over of all the different police forces, resulting in the arrest of cartel bosses. 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