Drug Violence Hits Mexico Tourist Spots & Belize

DRUG VIOLENCE HITS MEXICO TOURIST SPOTS. On Thursday, on a beach just yards away from two luxury hotels south of Cancun, in Puerto Morelos, a shootout over the drug trade killed two suspected drug dealers. It sent tourists fleeing into hiding. Apparently. it resulted from two drug gangs fighting for control over Puerto Morelos.

On Oct. 20 in at a street-side eatery in Tulum, crossfire erupted between alleged rival street drug dealers. It killed two tourists and wounded three more. There in Tulum, ten rival gangs are battling over the drug trade.

Also in October, in nearby Playa del Carmen, police raided the restaurant-lined Quinta Avenida. They detained 26 suspects, most, supposedly, for drug sales. They were searching for the killer of a city policewoman, and eventually put a suspect under arrest.

Drug violence at these Mexican Caribbean tourist spots bodes ill for Belize’s Caribbean coast. Because millions of tourists come to these coasts every year. According to Prime Minister John Briceno, tourism accounts for 40% of Belize’s Gross Domestic Product.

When drug violence spills over into tourist spots, those millions of tourists will find other venues. As a result, the more we lose our tourism business, the more Belizeans will be tempted to turn to the drug business.

Belize drug plane landing implicates police

On Friday, a day after the Puertos Morales shootout, another shootout occurred in southern Belize. A drug plane landed near Bladen, and 15-20 people were found unloading 1650 pounds of cocaine. Then the four police officers who engaged them came under heavy fire. Later, more officers came to reinforce them and succeed in the drug bust. Moreover, they found five stolen assault rifles, with 510 rounds of ammunition.

However, one of the rifles turned out to be police property. And two of the drug-involved vehicles belonged to the very Operations Unit which responds to criminal drug plane landings. Either members of the Operation Unit went rogue, or the whole Unit is implicated. Including Assistant Police Commissioner Marcos Vidal who runs the unit.

Police have detained two Operations Unit members, including the bodyguard for the Director of Public Prosecutions. Moreover, that Director happens to be Vidal’s wife, Cheryl-Lynn Vidal.

We must pray for Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, who said he would get to the bottom of this. Because if police and public prosecutors break the very anti-drug laws they should enforce, drug dealers would have their way. And Belize would go down the same destructive path as Mexico. God forbid!