Drug Cartel Wars in Mexico Reach Quintana Roo's Popular Tourist Destinations

Mexico's vacation paradise in Quintana Roo state has recently been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons: Mexican drug cartel wars have killed tourists and provoked a military deployment.

The weakening of Mexico's entrenched organized crime syndicates and the rising of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel are two of the most complex reasons for this violence, according to Global Risk Insights.

Military Deployment May Worsen Mexican Drug Cartel Wars in Mexico's Quintana Roo

The deployment of military forces in the region is reportedly unlikely to address the main reasons for the violence, and it can even worsen the situation.

Following recent high-profile acts of violence, Mexico's state of Quintana Roo, formerly seen as a sanctuary of tranquility in a nation torn apart by cartel violence, has lost its status as a safe vacation spot.

Last month, a lone gunman killed two Canadian visitors and injured another in the Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen, an attack that security officials described as targeted and involving individuals with criminal records.

Two weeks prior, a California Instagram influencer and a German tourist were killed when caught in the crossfire of a drug gang shootout in Tulum.

In July, a 35-year-old Texas firefighter on vacation with his wife to celebrate their 10th anniversary was kidnapped and murdered at a resort in Cancún, ABC 13 reported.

In May, a U.S. tourist was wounded in a shooting attack that killed two men at a beach in Cancún.

Between January and September 2021, the murder rate in Mexico increased by 80.5 percent compared to the previous year's similar period, according to the country's public security service.

In response to the violence, the Mexican government declared that the newly created Tourist Security Battalion would have 1,445 National Guard agents to provide security in tourist destinations in the coming months.

The nation's recent bloodshed "cannot be repeated," according to President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who also stated that the new battalion's deployment would be permanent and focused on intelligence work.

U.S. Embassy in Mexico Issues Security Alert for Quintana Roo

As consecutive acts of violence in Quintana Roo caused worldwide alarm, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Mexico issued a special security alert for Americans traveling to the state last week, Travel Pulse reported.

Governments in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand also made specific remarks on their travel advisory websites, while Germany recommended travelers not to leave the hotel zone while in the vicinity.

Cancun and the surrounding areas, also known as the Riviera Maya, have been traditionally viewed as safe havens from the violence that has ravaged much of Mexico in recent years. However, the recent string of violence in the state has vastly changed it.

There were reportedly three factors at play: COVID-19, the state's strategic position for drug trafficking, and the drug cartels fighting for control of territory.

The COVID-19 that shut down the rest of the world while Riviera Maya's cities remain open to international tourists increased the demand for illegal drugs in the state from desperate drug users and partygoers.

Quintana Roo has also been a stopover site for drug flights before heading to the U.S. or Europe.

Lastly, the Mexican drug cartel wars have also reached Quintana Roo, with the remnants of the Zetas Cartel fighting with the Gulf Cartel, Sinaloa Cartel, and Jalisco cartel that appears to currently have more power in the state.

Many believe that the violence in Quintana Roo is likely to worsen since military presence will do little to solve the root causes of the violence because it will simply push the Mexican drug cartels' shootouts away from resorts.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Jess Smith

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