Murders in two very different places have been making headlines lately, and they appear to be leading both tourists and people in the travel industry in two very different directions when it comes to making vacation plans. Every weekend, Chicago media outlets report on murders and shootings that occurred, and the numbers—sometimes in the double digits—tend to shock many. In the past few months, a surprising amount of violent crime has occurred in the popular Mexican resort areas of Cancun and Los Cabos. This is leading to polarized views over the wisdom of vacationing in Mexico, as well as a dangerous tendency to compare crime rates and trends across the border as a way of demonstrating that Mexico is safe to visit.
Mexico’s Drug Wars
In early April 2018, several news outlets reported that 14 people had been murdered in six separate incidents in Cancun in the span of only 36 hours. Most of the deaths appeared to be drug related, and neighbors told Mexican media outlet Notacaribe that the deceased were involved in drug sales for years. But the incident that really shook up the tourism sector was the attempted murder of a beach vendor in broad daylight on the Cancun resort strip by two men on jet skis. Although the shooters weren’t targeting tourists, the location indicated a shift might be occurring in cartel and gang operations.
Historically, Mexican drug cartels and local gangs have avoided engaging in high-profile criminal behavior (i.e. public violence in tourism zones) because it draws too much attention from media and law enforcement. However, the rise of criminal groups like the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación has demonstrated that more and more, drug traffickers and less concerned about their public profile and causing harm to innocent people. Fortunately, tourists are still considered collateral damage in Mexico’s drug war and not targets. And while it’s tempting to point to news of mass shootings and murders in U.S. cities as a way of supposedly demonstrating that Mexican tourist areas are safe in comparison, it’s very dangerous to compare crime rates in the U.S. and Mexico without context and understanding.
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