Cracks emerging in Yucatan’s vaunted security climate

To the climate of fear that has prevailed in Yucatan since the arrest of seven suspected drug traffickers, on Sunday Oct. 23 were added more cracks in the state’s security with the commission of a million-plus peso assault and an armed robbery.

In Rio Lagartos, four gun-toting men stormed a gasoline station and made off with a bounty of 1.3 million pesos (USD $70,000).

The criminals threatened staff with being shot if they did not hand over the cash and even fired shots in the air before hijacking a van to flee towards Las Coloradas.

In another incident, in Tzucacab, armed and masked men raided the warehouses of DICONSA. They made off with 25,000 pesos (USD $1,345).

The thieves surprised the night watchman, whom they subdued along with his wife.

In the Peto community, a series of calls from suspected Zetas drug-gang members demanded the payment of bribes from residents to maintain calm in the area.

The Municipal Police are classifying the calls as extortion attempts and they asked Petuleños to ignore these calls.

Meanwhile, the state prosecutor, Ariel Aldecua Kuk, reported that five murders classified as femicides have occurred in Yucatan so far this year.

Source: yucatan.com.mx