Is anyone second guessing?

[mike_s]

there trips to Coz based on government warning that now include more than border towns

no.

I'm safer there than driving to the airport to fly there. The worry is drug related, and Cozumel is not a big drug haven or import/export point.

Cozumel is not unaffected by this.

just across there water in Playa del Carmen area they just had several police officers killed by drug cartels.

Cancun's police chief was just arrested for drug murder involvement.
Cancun Police Chief Arrested In Drug Murder : NPR


The State Department is now including Cancun and Cozumel in it's warnings.
reference State Dept. travel warning for Mexico


Heck, even the police are involved. There are other threads on other boards about how driving back towards the airport in Cancun there are checkpoints where the police try to shake down tourists for fines, money to be paid on the spot.

 

[mstevens]

In the late 80's, over 20 years ago...I was a Sophomore at the University of Texas. Some of you may remember this big news story....it was even on Dateline and 48 Hours. A friend of mine, in our Spring Break Travel group was abducted and savagely murdered our last night of Spring break in South Padre Island. We had gone across the border to Matamoros as all kids on Spring break in South Padre do. He disappeared...he was abducted. It wasn't until months later that we learned the truth...that he was the victim of a satanic sacrificial killing that was believed to be drug cartel related.

I remember that case vividly, since I was living in Galveston at the time and everyone had either been to South Padre/Matamoros for spring break or had family that went. I knew someone else who had known Mark Kilroy.

In addition to your very good point that these things have been going on forever and everywhere, I think there's another issue here: xenophobia or ethnic prejudice. "See, you cain't trust them Messicans - they'll kill ya as soon as look at ya." That allows those who think this way to reassure themselves that, as long as they don't cross the border into foreign lands of mortal danger, they can stay perfectly safe and secure at home. Never mind that for every Adolfo Costanzo in Texas we have a Henry Lee Lucas AND a Ted Bundy at home.

 

[BTravlin]

We need to legalize marijuana and thereby take a big source of cash away from the cartels. While we're at it we can tax the hell out of it and help pay for all this spending.

 

[mike_s]

We need to legalize marijuana and thereby take a big source of cash away from the cartels. While we're at it we can tax the hell out of it and help pay for all this spending.

getting rid of a certain drug or a drug dealer doesn't solve the problem.... a new one will just pop up in the place of the old one.

 

[ggunn]

getting rid of a certain drug or a drug dealer doesn't solve the problem.... a new one will just pop up in the place of the old one.

Solve it, no, but improve the situation, certainly. The repeal of alcohol prohibition in the US reduced street crime considerably in this country. But you're right about busting drug dealers and their customers, OTOH; that does virtually nothing.

 

[RubberDucky]

There are other threads on other boards about how driving back towards the airport in Cancun there are checkpoints where the police try to shake down tourists for fines, money to be paid on the spot.

Unfortunately this is nothing new to Mexico. It can happen anywhere, at any time, in any situation. I was on a trip in Rocky Point years ago where this happened to someone in our group as she was coming back from a bar. I've heard a number of other similar stories over the years as well, having lived close by.

It sickens me that this behavior is acceptable. If you're in Mexico and you're not brown, I recommend only carrying enough money that you would be ok with being stolen, because it's a very real possibility that the cops will do just that. If you get pulled over for any reason, remove your jewelry and hide it. Giving the pigs a few dollars is better than losing your wedding band or ending up in jail.

 

[ggunn]

Unfortunately this is nothing new to Mexico. It can happen anywhere, at any time, in any situation. I was on a trip in Rocky Point years ago where this happened to someone in our group as she was coming back from a bar. I've heard a number of other similar stories over the years as well, having lived close by.

It sickens me that this behavior is acceptable. If you're in Mexico and you're not brown, I recommend only carrying enough money that you would be ok with being stolen, because it's a very real possibility that the cops will do just that. If you get pulled over for any reason, remove your jewelry and hide it. Giving the pigs a few dollars is better than losing your wedding band or ending up in jail.

Although I have heard the occasional rumor, in all my many trips to Cozumel I have never had anything like that happen to me or anyone I know. It has, OTOH, happened to me no less than three times right here in the good old US of A.

 

[BTravlin]

getting rid of a certain drug or a drug dealer doesn't solve the problem.... a new one will just pop up in the place of the old one.

I agree this won't solve the problem but it should drastically improve the situation. I saw a news report the other night that said marijuana still constitutes a huge portion of the Mexican cartels' business. Also, they are now heavily involved in growing the stuff here in the U.S. Take that huge source of cash away from them and they have less available to corrupt politicians, police and prosecutors and there is less for them to fight over.

 

[mstevens]

Cozumel is not unaffected by this.

just across there water in Playa del Carmen area they just had several police officers killed by drug cartels.

Cancun's police chief was just arrested for drug murder involvement.
Cancun Police Chief Arrested In Drug Murder : NPR

"Just across the water" is in many ways a different world. Cozumel is farther from Playa del Carmen (15Km) than Africa is from Europe (14.25Km "just across the water" at the Straits of Gibraltar). If you've ever been to the three towns you mention (and I was in each on Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday of last week), you'll know how incredibly different each is from the other.

The State Department is now including Cancun and Cozumel in it's warnings.
reference State Dept. travel warning for Mexico

I do see that claim on the TV station's website. However, the actual State Department travel warning (MIG: Mexico Travel Alert) mentions Cancun and Cozumel ONLY in listing consular offices in each town. It names several border and northern towns by name and lists entire regions to be avoided. It does not give any warnings about the Riviera Maya. The Spring Break page SPRING BREAK IN MEXICO has a section titled "Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel," but gives warnings specific to Cancun and only Cancun.

Heck, even the police are involved. There are other threads on other boards about how driving back towards the airport in Cancun there are checkpoints where the police try to shake down tourists for fines, money to be paid on the spot.

We drove up and down 307. There were certainly checkpoints, but I saw nobody being shaken down. Maybe it happens, but I was up and down that road several times last week and saw only professionals doing a professional job.

 

[mstevens]

Incidentally, my wife WAS stopped by a cop on Cozumel last week. She darted across an Avenida way too close in front of a motorcyclist. The biker was the cop, and he was pissed off. He told her she had an infraction and would need to go to the police station to pay the fine (which is the correct procedure). He actually was charging her with running a stop sign, which she did not do, although she did endanger him by pulling out if front of him. We asked directions to the police station to pay the fine. He kind of cooled off and asked where we were staying, then made a point of writing it all down, and told her this would be her one warning and if she got stopped again she was toast. The only thing he demanded was to see her driver's license. No shakedown at all.