The recent disappearance and apparent homicide of three foreign tourists in Mexico is a sign of much greater disorder and a reminder that violent crime poses a serious threat to tourists. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, a debatable populist, is now entering the final months of his term. Six-year term. It has failed to implement security policies. Their strategy, whether by design or an unfortunate miscalculation, has strengthened the Mexican military and unleashed Mexico’s tough organized criminal groups.
The killing of three surfers who were visiting beaches south of Tijuana, near the U. S. border, shows just how much security disruptions have deteriorated in Mexico. On May 5, relatives of three foreign tourists, including a U. S. citizen, found the bodies of the victims, after the three bodies were discovered near the city of Ensenada, Baja California, a 90-minute drive south of San Diego. The bodies of the three missing surfers were discovered in the back of a 50-foot well. All three had been shot and wounded. Local media reported that their deaths occurred in a botched carjacking.
These murders add to the historic total of more than 187,000 murders that occurred during López Obrador’s presidency in Mexico.
The U. S. State Department warns tourists: “Violent crimes, such as homicides, kidnappings, carjackings, and robberies, are widespread and not unusual in Mexico. “
The town of Tijuana is now the worst hotbed of murders and car thefts in Mexico, according to Mexico’s Ministry of Defense (SEDENA).
On April 21, 2024, an Uber driver was shot and killed during a robbery in Tijuana.
But despite the risks, more than 75 million tourists visited Mexico in 2023, spending a record $30 billion. Last year, the Mexican economy gained almost as much from tourism spending as from foreign direct investment or oil exports.
Mexico remains among the most sensible tourist destinations in the world, despite its well-documented upheavals of violence and organized crime.
During his time in office, President López Obrador stopped in Baja California several times and promised to bring peace and security to the state. In 2021, during a layover in Tijuana, Baja California’s largest and most violent city, he avoided speaking. about still-high homicide rates and ongoing conflicts between cartels. Instead, he complained about the risks of violent video games and spent just two minutes talking about Call of Duty Warzone.
“These video games are natural violence. This is toxic, destructive, and violent content,” he warned.
He didn’t mention that young people in Baja California only have to watch the news to see action-movie-style scenes featuring masked armed criminals in tactical gear attacking heavily armed paramilitary-style police patrols.
On February 17, 2024, for example, gunmen dressed in black military uniforms used automatic rifles to attack a police patrol car at a gas station in Ensenada, the same city where the surfers were killed.
López Obrador did not mention schoolchildren who are taught to sing songs with their teachers while hiding under their desks during anti-cartel shootouts in Tijuana. He has avoided referring to the 14,000 murders that have occurred in Baja California since 2019.
Lopez Obrador downplays the risk of organized crime teams in Mexico, saying cartel gunmen don’t bother civilians. On April 25, 2024, he claimed to be able to stop in remote villages in spaces controlled through organized crime teams because even the bad guys are “respectful. “
His rhetoric ignores the uncomfortable fact that Mexico is increasingly plagued by a variety of organized mafias that complement the cross-border drug trade and Mexico’s citizens and visitors.
Mexico is now the worst hotbed of criminal extortion and violent kidnappings of shipping trucks in the world.
Baja California is also one of the states in Mexico with the highest risk when it comes to violent vehicle thefts.
Data released by the Mexican federal government shows that Baja California recorded 1,193 violent car hijackings in 2023. Mexico in total recorded more than 36,000 violent car hijackings in 2023. (The actual occurrence of car hijackings in Mexico is likely even higher because many crimes go unreported. )
The threat of violent carjacking is a blind spot for many visitors to Mexico. Car hijacking is an activity for criminals in Mexico, as the country’s main organized criminal groups use stolen cars for operations such as kidnappings and violent attacks against rival teams or security forces. .
The Ensenada murders show that criminal activity in Mexico continues to pose a serious threat to citizens and to Mexico. The World Justice Project ranks Mexico among the worst countries in the world in terms of rule of law. According to the Global Organized Crime Index, Mexico is the third country in the world in terms of criminal activity. According to data from BSI Consulting, Mexico is now the country with the highest risk in the world in terms of violent hijackings of cargo trucks on the roads.
But despite the media’s abundant violent crime policy, Mexico is experiencing a new zenith of comfortable strength that is hailed around the world. Mexico City is now widely identified as a cultural capital on par with New York, Tokyo, London and Paris. . But foreign visitors perceive that despite its cultural character, Mexico still suffers from security disorders, unlike what has been happening lately in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom or France. Modern Mexico is a combination of paradoxical tendencies. Many states, including Baja California, Jalisco, Nuevo Leon and the State of Mexico (just outside Mexico City), are a troubling combination of South Korea and Afghanistan.
It is true that Mexico’s largest organized criminal groups have diversified by systematically kidnapping tourists for ransom or targeting violent attacks or extortion schemes against foreign leaders and business travelers.
But if there’s one thing foreign tourists want to perceive about Mexico, it’s that organized crime-related violence can affect ordinary people as well as residents and visitors. Especially when visiting rural spaces outside of major cities, tourists deserve to be aware of the dangers related to violence and organized criminal activities. Tourists can fall victim to extortion-related violence when organized crime teams attack bars, restaurants, and other businesses with gunfire or arson. Violent carjackings are a primary fear in states such as Baja California, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Morelos, Sinaloa, and the State of Mexico.
In terms of car hijacking in capita terms, Morelos is the threatening state in Mexico, followed by the state of Mexico and Sinaloa. The prevalence of car hijackings in Sinaloa undermines the popular myth that the Sinaloa autotel does not prey on innocent civilians.
Tourists who are thinking of renting a car and driving from Mexico City to nearby tourist spots should note that the state of Mexico, which surrounds Mexico City, recorded 12,704 violent car hijackings in 2023. The state of Jalisco, home to popular tourists Destinations that add Guadalajara, Lake Chapala, and Puerto Vallarta recorded 3,360 violent car hijackings in 2023, the second-highest number of any state in Mexico. The state of Puebla, another popular tourist destination, recorded the third-highest violent robbery (2,960).
During his tenure, Mexican President López Obrador failed to implement effective security policies and gave strength to Mexican mafias. Mexico’s next president will be forced to take into account the country’s pressing need for public security.
Further reading: Is Organized Crime Activity Affecting Tijuana’s Nearshoring Boom?
A community. Lots of voices. Create a free account to share your thoughts.
Our network aims to connect other people through open and thoughtful conversations. We need our readers to share their perspectives and exchange ideas and facts in one space.
To do so, please comply with the posting regulations in our site’s terms of use. We’ve summarized some of those key regulations below. Simply put, civilian.
Your message will be rejected if we notice that it appears to contain:
User accounts will be blocked if we become aware that users are participating in:
So how can you become a user?
Thank you for reading our Community Standards. Read the full list of publishing regulations discovered in our site’s terms of use.