Tulum Violence: Undercover Police to Guard the Hotel Zone
As a result of the recent violence in the Tulum beach region, where many of the city's finest hotels and restaurants are located, an undercover Investigative Police presence will soon be formed.
Following the recent acts of violence in the coastal area of Tulum, where the most prestigious hotels and restaurants are concentrated, the Attorney General of Quintana Roo, Óscar Montes de Oca Rosales, announced that order will be established with the presence of undercover elements of the Investigative Police.
After a meeting with the armed forces and officials from all three levels of government on Tuesday morning in Tulum to figure out how to make the north of the state safer and lower crime rates, the attorney general gave an interview in which he talked about the steps that will be taken.
Among them, plaques will be installed in several establishments—as has been done in other points of Quintana Roo—to inform them that the common areas of these businesses will be permanently checked by local and federal authorities to prevent and sanction the possession and trade of drugs or any other illicit activity.
Members of the investigation team will work undercover in all commercial areas of the hotel zone. The purpose is to act immediately in the case of any illegal act, such as drug dealing, extortion, or any other activity that the law classifies as criminal.
Regarding the place where the bodies of four men were found last Friday, August 12, the prosecutor made it clear that it was not a clandestine grave but that the bodies were dumped on the site and added that as a result of this, five individuals were arrested: four perpetrators and one more who took advantage of an opportunity criterion to provide evidence.
Both the victims and the assassins belong to the criminal group known as Los Pelones, which together with four other criminal cells operates in the municipality and the state of Quintana Roo.
Tulum has a very low crime rate, but because it is a well-known place, bad news gets more attention.
"We have acceptable rates; however, we know that here an event is potentially and mass-produced replicated throughout the nation and even around the world, so we must be very attentive to what happens in Tulum," he said.
In regards to drug dealing, he said that selling drugs is the main cause of violence in all of Quintana Roo and that nine out of ten murders can be linked to this crime.
