The images are carefully checked for known cartel members and the number plates of vehicles are also analysed. Cancun, despite a few incidents that received international headlines, has avoided the gangland violence that has plagued other parts of Mexico. CJNG have been targeted several times. They use those huge tourist resorts to launder their drug money. Five were shot dead the following month in a bar. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. There is a baffling amount of information available to you if you just take the time to notice it. Within 30-60 minutes a third salesman drops off your drugs. The Gulf Cartels primary base is in Tamaulipas, Mexico, and it has a strong presence in the state of San Luis Potos. Asked for any advice for tourists who still decide to go down to Mexico for Spring Break, Mr Almonte said You just need to be aware of your surroundings. Nogales is a drug cartel resort city located in the Mexican state of Sonora. Thank you Rolando and Hotel Xcaret for making our honeymoon! From brutal beheadings to violent kidnappings, the cartel wars of Cancun have unleashed horror on Mexico's Caribbean coast as gangsters wreak havoc feet away from luxury resorts. The execution of UK businessman Chris Cleave earlier this month came after he was warned shut your mouth in a narcomanta - a cloth banner which drug gangs use to terrorize their enemies and those who resist them. We are already planning a trip back! The South Texas HIDTA region, which is highly regarded as a strategic location for the Mexican drug cartels, is a particularly important area. Officers, wearing bullet-proof jackets, discreetly carry 9mm Beretta semi-automatic handguns on their hip, as well as flick knives. Wu Yuxiang. This thread is archived . A lot of street level drug trafficking takes place at or around the immediate area of the resorts. At The Hotel Xcaret Mxico, we are very proud of the standard of service and facilities that we provide, ensuring each guest who visits has the most memorable of experiences. I cannot believe I was so nave to take my family there.. They say there re making the bed even though we just checked in and havent even sat in it or need to come in to get a plate of food, its more so the staff can scope out your property and decide what valuables they will steal! Just two weeks ago, a California travel blogger and a German tourist were tragically gunned down in a shootout in the beach town of Tulum. Some of them use drugs and they're going to buy the drugs from the cartels. They were all so friendly and made our stay unforgettable! The gunmen executed two people - reportedly street vendors selling craft items - on the beach before escaping across the water. The larger rifles in case of cartel attack are usually kept in the back of their Ford Explorers, along with a magazine carrying 25 bullets. Many resorts in Cancn have become the subject of concern due to their ownership. Remnants of the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas are also present, while foreign groups like the Romanian mafia have found a foothold there as well. "Criminal activity and violence, including homicide, occur throughout the state," the department's website said. The region, also known as the Mayan Riviera, used to be mainly ruled by the Los Zetas cartel but the Sinaloa and Gulf cartels have engaged them in a brutal conflict. One older white dude literally threw a temper tantrum on the beach because it took about 30 minutes for his cocaine to be delivered. 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. Jalisco are said to be even more terrifying than the notorious Zetas - who left piles of as many as 50 bodies on roads, kidnapped hundreds of people, and burned their victims alive. It looks like they are protecting them.. The Zetas Cartel is in charge of Quintana Roo. And if you go there like some dumb Gringo lol, they'll just leave you alone because you're adding profits to their "business" is that right? The state is well known for its sugar cane and cattle industries, as well as citrus and seafood industries. With a large immigrant population, the region is also known for providing a pool of recruits for the cartels, allowing them to generate profits from drug trafficking. The spate of killings has increased anxiety among UK tourists in the resort. With that, my daughters were hysterical. This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Basically they said that the resorts bring in so much money as it is for Mexico that they pretty much just control the prostitution and drugs that occur outside of the resorts. However, it is possible that cartels do own some resorts in Mexico. Cops invited The Sun to ride along with them for the day as they patrolled the beaches, bars and roads in the main tourist district of Cancun. The whole thing was absolutely terrifying. We cant wait to come back and feel we have made forever friends with this resort and staff! Is Cancun safe from cartels? Currently they are serving a very nice Mexican Fume Blanc (L.A.Cetto '17). "In certain parts of Mexico you should take particular care to avoid being caught up in drug related violence between criminal groups.". I quickly noticed a male/female couple. We also saw military police officers some covering their faces standing in the back of the trucks with AR rifles drawn. We traveled with our family and had two kids under the age of two, and one started teething while we were there and they were so kind to order baby orajel for them and made our trip that much better! We watched as police, armed with the long rifles, trudged through the sand - past bikini-clad sunbathers on loungers. This is a picture of us enjoying some amazing lobster in the incredibly dangerous part of downtown Cancun. On this trip we decided we wanted to make it easy as we were only going to be spending four days in the country. 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!!!! This property was filthy from the outside hallways to the bugs in the rooms. The other side of the road, shanty houses with corrugated iron rooves are separated by walls of graffiti, while stray dogs walk the streets. A report by Mexican news outlet La Reforma, from earlier this year, indicated that at least five cartels are now operating in the Riviera Maya and reports of violent crime in Tulum alone had gone . Before you start thinking Im crazy and spouting off woo-woo bullshit, consider that warriors throughout history have intensely studied the art of intuition and awareness in both time and space. Take a second to support Greg on Patreon! 1.3 miles from Hotel Xcaret Mexico Free Wifi Free parking All Inclusive Sandos Playacar View Hotel 23,514 reviews 1.6 miles from Hotel Xcaret Mexico Free parking Pool All Inclusive Iberostar Tucan View Hotel 10,688 reviews 1.7 miles from Hotel Xcaret Mexico Free parking Pool Special offer Visit hotel website All Inclusive Iberostar Quetzal The cartel bosses would likely do just about anything possible to ensure that the tourists are happy and safe. Your gracious comments will serve as an added inspiration for Rolando and Kiyoshi, whom I'm sure will be glad to read your review.We will be looking forward to having you back very soon, maybe for your first-anniversary celebration!Sincerely,Jorge DucoingManaging DirectorHotel Xcaret Mxico. They want the dealers selling the cocaine and heroin instead of marijuana. I'll miss Mexico but I'll miss these staff mentioned even more. The Sinaloa Cartel used to be run by kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman now facing life in a US jail for running the ruthless drug empire. During its prime, the Sinaloa Cartel was widely regarded as the most powerful and capable organization on the planet, possibly even more so than the notorious Medellin Cartel of Colombia, which reigned supreme over Latin America during the 1980s. On the same day, shots were fired at the local office of the department of the state prosecutor that works to fight small-scale drug trafficking. And last year, cartel gunmen ambushed and killed 14 state police officers in Michoacn - with some shot in the head. "They're killing each other," added her friend, Brent Piece, 60, a retired Canadian whose young . I spent part of last week vacationing in Mexico. But violence including murder has been creeping out of the Mexican barrios, or neighbourhoods, and closer to the tourist enclaves. The goal is to create a holistic and accurate understanding of TCO operations by utilizing open-source data. CJNG has produced a number of videos that show off its weapons and muscles. They arent selling cigars. Which cartel is biggest in Mexico? Two German men and a Dutch woman were also wounded in the crossfire. The dealers walk back and forth on the beach pretending to sell some type of product. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu. Over here theres no order. Some cities are more expensive, just as they are in the United States. 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. This property was filthy from the outside hallways to the bugs in the rooms. We had a room in an adult section away from the crowd, very nice with a balcony overlooking the river. Over the past few years Ive been working hard to increase my awareness levels and intuition. In June, an American tourist was wounded while on holidayafter hitmen on jet skis sprayed a beach with bullets in a turf war with a rival drug gang. I didnt even know what they were a few days ago.. Morgues even closed down in the Mexican state of Guerreroafter they were inundated with gangland victims. Dear Iantdit,Thank you for your amazing review. He tells you to pay the person who approaches you and asks you for money in a few minutes. The two had applied for a contract to operate a landfill in Colima, a Pacific coastal state that borders Jalisco. There is no definitive answer to this question, as cartels are notoriously difficult to track and quantify. They say there re making the bed even though we just checked in and havent even sat in it or need to come in to get a plate of food, its more so the staff can scope out your property and decide what valuables they will steal! This is a major metropolitan area with a large population and a lot of drug trafficking activity, so it stands to reason that cartels would be present. The dudes who pick up the money or drop off the drugs didnt speak English at all. At the opponents slightest move, I move first. The Foreign Office warns that while the government has made efforts to protect popular tourist destinations, including Playa del Carmen, there has been a number of shooting incidents in the areas. Plausible deniability for him if the deal is under surveillance. Taken from JRE #1302 w/Ed Calderon: https://youtu.be/llhb2ymtsw8 It was like something out of a horror film.. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. However, the FCO also says most tourist visits are "trouble-free". 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!!!! Its a jungle. We also got an education about how drug sales work south of the border. Ask Travelerspaniard123 about Hotel Xcaret Mexico, Ask Haley93grace about Hotel Xcaret Mexico, The only all-inclusive my family has double visited, We compared the lowest prices from 12 websites, We compared the lowest prices from 11 websites, We compared the lowest prices from 9 websites, We compared the lowest prices from 13 websites, Take Your Vacation Beyond Limits - Save up to 20%, We compared the lowest prices from 10 websites. There's a lot of money there and you have people from all over the world who go there to party and vacation. We booked at a very large and fairly swanky all-inclusive resort hotel. When we normally spend time in Mexico, we will rent an Air BnB condo or stay at a very small resort far outside the tourist zones. These walking salesmen need to go where there is a market for their wares. Furthermore, the South Texas HIDTA region is home to a large number of unauthorized immigrants. Playa del Carmen is a generally safe destination for solo visitors, though they should exercise caution as petty crime and scams have been known to occur in Mexico. Is it safe to visit Mexico right now? Police in Mexico have stepped up their war on the drug cartels, but theyll have to win hearts and minds if they want Brits to keep coming back to the Caribbean coastlines turquoise waters. Even though we only spent four days in the country, I learned a massive amount of how the drug cartels operate and all about the local drug markets, cartel assassins, and human trafficking rings. The Mexican cartels are some of the most powerful and influential criminal organizations in the world. We are delighted to hear that you fully enjoyed your visit, and particularly appretiated the high quality of food and attentive service you consistently receive from our dedicated colleagues. Most speculate they failed to stick to the deal. They have a very clear motivation to keep the tourists safe. People get shot. Playa del Carmen in particular seems to currently be gripped by an ongoing battle which is leaving a bloody trail of bodies in its wake. It was a wonderful location and we got all the beach and relaxation we had been looking for. The Sinaloa Cartel is based in Culiacn, Sinaloa, Mexico and is active in the states of Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango, and Jalisco. Nunez Vargas is now being prosecuted and more charges, linked to his cartel activity over the years, will follow.. Aside from gang-related violence, this citys crime rate is low. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of drug-related murders in Cancun, and the city has become a hot spot for cartel activity. Miss Mexico but i 'll miss these staff mentioned even more woman were also wounded in the head was from! You Rolando and Hotel Xcaret for making our honeymoon the person who approaches you asks... 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