British businessman executed in Playa del Carmen

The businessman shot to death on Saturday in Playa del Carmen is English and not Canadian, as had been previously reported, clarified the Attorney General's Office of the State of Quintana Roo. The Attorney General of Quintana Roo, Óscar Montes de Oca, informed that he is a man of English nationality with permanent residence in Mexico since 2013.

The real estate businessman was executed while driving his Audi vehicle on Xcalacoco Avenue, on the Cancun-Playa del Carmen highway, when he was traveling with his 14-year-old daughter, who was injured. The man was intercepted by two armed subjects, who shot at him and then tried to flee, leaving his victim dead and his companion with a wound in the passenger seat, who was taken to the general hospital and is reported to be stable.

According to information from witnesses, after the execution, the assassins fled on a motorcycle towards Universidades Avenue, where they were detained by municipal police. Their identities are still unknown, but it was reported that they are minors. The State Attorney General's Office confirmed the arrest of the two individuals who shot at the Canadian businessman, who had permanent residence in Playa del Carmen so that the act could be attributed to the charging of a "derecho de piso" or extortion.

A precedent reinforces the version that the motive of the murder could be linked to a dispute over drug sales in Playacar, an exclusive residential area in Playa del Carmen, after last March 5, 2021, a banner with an intimidating message for three people appeared in that subdivision, in which the name of the British man would be included.

He had been threatened by a drug banner

"This is for you Filipp and Jack from Playacar, with the Range Rover and Porsche cars, hidden partners of Bistro, Playacar, we are already coming for you and sales of your crap. Also to you, Cris, with the red Audi," read the first part of the threat. Apparently, the authors of the threat resented not being able to sell drugs in the place.

The foreigner who was murdered this Saturday in the presence of his minor daughter is most probably one of the three mentioned in that text since he was traveling in a vehicle with the same characteristics described in the message, besides having the same first name. If this version is confirmed, it would be a similar case to the one that occurred recently in the Mamita's beach club, in the downtown area of the city, where on January 25 its manager was executed, presumably in revenge for not allowing this group to sell drugs in the place.

The murder of the businessman adds to other violent acts committed in Playa del Carmen, such as the Argentinean Federico Mazzoni, manager of the restaurant-bar Mamita's Beach Club, and two Canadians executed in a hotel in Xcaret. Foreigners from more than 120 countries live permanently in Quintana Roo and work or have businesses in this tourist destination, mainly restaurants, marinas, car rental companies, hotels, and real estate.

Given the wave of insecurity that has hit Cancun and the Riviera Maya area, whose heart is Playa del Carmen, authorities from the FBI, DEA, Canadian Mounted Police, as well as advisors and attachés from the European Union, have met in recent days with police authorities to exchange information and verify the actions and security strategies of the state, to provide protection and security to the thousands of tourists who visit this destination.