HOW THE NEW GENERATION JALISCO CARTEL INFILTRATED THE JEWELS OF MEXICAN TOURISM

Assault on Paradise: how "El Mencho" and the CJNG infiltrated Cancun and The Riviera Maya

By Chivis Martinez from Infobae
Translated by Cruz

Borderland Beat
August 22, 2019

The New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG) is the fastest growing criminal organization in the country. Like cancer that metastasized in the body, it has expanded everywhere and the jewel of Mexican tourism has not been the exception.

Yes, the Riviera Maya fell under the tentacles of the group dominated by Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes alias "El Mencho".

CJNG's power managed to breakthrough a territory controlled by groups of organized crime like the Gulf Cartel, the Zetas, and the Sinaloa Cartel.

In fact, local cells like the Cancun Cartel, headed by Leticia Rodriguez Lara "Doña Lety", were overthrown by CJNG who expanded its operations from the Caribbean to the Mexican Pacific.
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According to the Secretary of Federal Public Security (SSP), el "Mencho" and his lieutenants settled in places like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Isla Mujeres since 2016, which was the last year of the Roberto Borge Angulo administration.

Borge Angulo governed Quintana Roo from 2011 to 2016. He is currently being held on charges of organized crime, money laundering, illicit enrichment, and percolation.

CJNG managed to establish its illegal operations that include drug transfer and distribution, kidnapping and extortion.

No one knew how the infiltration of criminals in Quintana Roo without the collaboration of the authorities as possible. Lieutenants like Rigoberto Saldivar aka "La Mocha", Manuel Borbolla "El Rayo" and Oscar Rodriguez "La Rana", have been in charge of paying off state and municipal police to guarantee protection.

Playa del Carmen is one of the cities where violence has spread more rapidly and has recorded massacres in bars due to alleged disputes between drug dealers.

Juan Jose Rivera aka "The Dragon", is the person in charge of the CJNG drug trafficking in clubs and nightclubs.

The violence left its toll on Cancun

Guadalajara, Ciudad de México, Los Cabos, Monterrey, and Puerto Vallarta were the destinations with the greatest increase in the volume of foreign tourists during the first half of 2019.

Guadalajara had the biggest increase, 4.3%; despite the state's high homicide rate. Followed by Ciudad de Mexico, with 4% and Los Cabos with 3.37%. Cancun, on the other hand, is one of the main tourist attractions of the nation, only had an increase in airline passengers of 0.5%.

In global terms, according to the Secretary of Tourism, Miguel Torruco, the number of foreign tourists that visited Mexico during the first half of 2019 increased by 7% compared to the same period of 2018.

Around 22.1 million international tourists visited Mexico in the first 6 months of the year. Leaving profits for Mexico of 11.915 million USD, an increase of 13.9% from last year. The average spending of these tourists was 927,8 USD, 12.3% more than last year.

National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi) announced that Mexico's tourist activity decreased 0.6% in the first trimester of 2019 compared to the same time period of last year due to the fall in domestic tourism and services.

Between January and March, the consumption of both foreign and domestic tourists registered a decrease of 0.4% compared to 2018. The consumption of tourists residing in Mexico fell 2.7%, while foreign spending increased by 9.6% in the same period.

Torruco claimed that the reason for the decline in the tourist activity for the first trimester was amongst other factors, that in 2018 the holiday period of Easter week was included. However, he highlighted an increase in inbound tourism consumption(international).

Torruco claims that they have observed a constant increase in the arrival of foreign travelers in the 6 main airports of the country in which 92.4% of the international tourist arrivals. He mentions that the Sectur has focused on creating strategies based on the positioning achieved and the important tourism potential of the country in the first 6 months of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador reign.

As for the hotel sector, around 22,000 new rooms will have been built at the end of this year, which will increase the inventory to 833,900 rooms, 2.5% more than in 2018. The number of lodging establishments is expected to reach 22,230, 1.9% more than the previous year.

With this, Mexico would occupy the seventh position worldwide in hotel infrastructure.

According to preliminary figures, Mexico had 41.7 million international tourists in 2018, surpassing Turkey, a country which used to be # 7 worldwide.