Tulum, with its Insta-worthy beaches and ancient Maya vibes, has everyone swooning. But here’s the scoop: it’s not all sunshine and chill vibes in this Mexican haven. Tulum’s dealing with some serious crime issues.
The higher-ups are trying to clean up the mess and make things a bit safer. Mayor Diego Castanon Trejo spilled the beans recently about adding 30 Navy folks to the Tulum law enforcement crew.
As per Fox News (posted on January 27, 2024), that puts the total army presence in Tulum at a whopping 250. Trejo spilled that nearly a hundred of those soldiers are Navy folks.
Why the sudden beefing up of the security detail? Well, there was this incident in April where a Mexican tourist got shot and killed at a Tulum resort. Dude apparently didn’t want to part with his fancy watch, and things went south real quick.
Back in 2023, the US Department of State dropped a travel warning, telling folks to be extra careful, especially when the sun goes down. They even pointed out the danger zones, like the beach resorts in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, where drug gang drama has gone down before.
And this isn’t the first rodeo for crime in the area. In 2022, two Canadians got caught up in some gang debt drama in Playa del Carmen, and it didn’t end well.
Flashback to 2021, and Tulum saw the tragic deaths of two tourists—a travel blogger from California with roots in India and a German visitor. They got caught in the middle of a drug dealer shootout, or so the story goes.
So, while Tulum might look like paradise, it’s got its fair share of trouble. The bigwigs are hustling to keep things in check, but it’s a reminder that even in paradise, you’ve gotta watch your back.