This is how the drugs move in Quintana Roo

Posted by DD republished from La Sila Rota
And a special thanks to BB reader Tu Fren for sending us  the link to the story. 

CANCÚN, Quintana Roo (La Silla Rota) .- "The Los Pelones drug was better than the Zetas , it was purer, more cocaine, it was cheaper," says Adrian "N", remembering and comparing the two Types of crack that he consumed for more than five years in different picaderos of Cancun , Quintana Roo .

 Adrian, went from being an exemplary father, present at the morning meetings of his children's school, a good neighbor and worker, to a man who left his family.

For him to get drugs in Cancun was never a problem, just take any unit of the "Andrés Quintana Roo" Taxi Drivers' Union, and ask the driver to take you to an area where they sell crack. Another way is to go to a strip bar in the center of the city and ask prostitutes to help you get a dose, go and consume it at an economic motel in the area known as "The Cruise." The other is to go directly to an arena (an abandoned area where people who consume "stone", cocaine and other substances) meet.

The simplest, quickest and most economical way to do this was, for him, the latter. The place was "Plaza Kabah", an abandoned facility in the 93rd Region of Cancun, located on Kabah Avenue and Francisco I. Madero.

In that place, almost always after leaving work, Adrian saw the "Flaco", a middle-aged man who lived there and looked after the square; Presented himself as the administrator and invited the people who passed through the area to drink a beer.

 "El Flaco contacted the drug provider, he did not sell it, he used to call people, he opened and he always kept the gate closed, except he would open it for them" explains Adrian.

The Kabah Square is on two levels, on the sides, on the front and on the ground floor has different shopping venues. The establishment was maintained from 2007 to 2015 with businesses closed, others abandoned and survived barely 10 businesses that were in front of the main avenues, a few meters farther from the picadero.

Due to the lack of supervision of the authorities in the area, the "Flaco" and other companions decided to inhabit the square to live and also to take people to use drugs, says Adrian.

"Any building, local or plaza in Cancun, which has an area without surveillance or abandoned, is a point prone to become a picadero," he describes.

On drugs, he says, there are two prices, one of 50 and 100 pesos for a dose.  It was supposed that the cheap was from a group, "Los Pelones', They sold better quality, it was cheap, and we liked it,  We fought for that. The other was sold by Los Zetas was more ordinary, poor, less cocaine, more crap of another type.

Adrian says that the preference of the drug addicts for the Los Pelones crack was so high that sometimes it was scarce.

At this picadora the "Flaco" borrowed the phone from his friends-clients to call the drug supplier who arrived in a taxi driven from Plaza Kabah.

In 2016, the "Andrés Quintana Roo" Taxi Drivers' Union reported that it expelled 102 taxi drivers from the trade union for not paying union dues, others for being involved in common law crimes, for robbery, attempted rape and narco-trafficking.

"I would talk to any taxi driver, ask where they are selling, I would not pick up a special taxi I knew, I never got a taxi driver who did not know ... I bought and returned to the taxi, I paid normal return fare.  

For example if it was 30 and 30, I would give them 70 pesos, they would win because of it, "Adrian explains.

Drug sales come from at least three drug cartels, including the Gulf Cartel (CDG), Los Pelones and the New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG), according to prosecutors.

According to statistics from the Center for Youth Integration (CIJ) drug use increased in Cancun during 2016, especially among women and minors. In 2015, 680 patients were treated for the first time in a rehabilitation process, while until October 2016 500 patients attended.

"The drugs they have access to are outside of universities, drugstores, nightclubs and even through social networks and by WhatsApp ... Just call or send a message to the seller through Facebook or WhatsApp , And then the product reaches the home of the addict, "says Lilian Negrete Estrella, president of the CIJ of Cancun.

The same thing happens in Playa del Carmen, municipality of Solidaridad, where getting drugs is as easy as asking transporters, waiters or service providers, according to police sources and shopkeepers at La Silla Rota .

The area of ​​La Quinta Avenida and Calle 12 - where on Monday there was a shooting with five people dead - is known for its bars, clubs, restaurants but also for being an area where narcomenudistas have presence to satisfy the consumption of Tourists and locals.

The drug dealers live mainly in the colonies El Ejido and Luis Donaldo Colosio from where they go down to the tourist area to distribute; The market is fighting for this area are "Los Pelones" and Gulf Cartel. In this tourist center, cocaine is the best-selling drug, according to the Office of the Prosecutor.

 

Narcomenudeo focuses on Cancun

During the last three years Cancún has captured 43.9% of the arrests for narcomenudeo in Quintana Roo. The State Attorney General's Office (FGE) from 2014 to 2016 has detained 1,852 people for possession of drugs in Quintana Roo that were intended to be marketed in at least eight municipalities out of the 11 that the state has.

According to the Attorney General's report, Cancun, Playa del Carmen and Chetumal are the main selling areas for narcomenudistas.

However, tourist destinations such as Isla Mujeres, Tulum and Cozumel are areas of opportunity to sell drugs, since in those municipalities they captured the rest of sellers, officials say.

Marijuana leads the list in the Quintana Roo drug sale, followed by cocaine, methamphetamine, and methamphetamine (MDA) - a psychoactive family of methamphetamine that is distributed in pills or pills - in addition to crystal.

Miguel Ángel Pech Cen, head of the FGE in Quintana Roo, who was appointed to the post in December 2016, mentions that in the fight against narcomenudeo, they will support the Attorney General's Office (PGR) and the Secretary of the Navy (Semar) to Stop from shooters and drug dealers operating in the state and in different tourist destinations.

"What harms the population not only from here, but the borders of our state, in the center of Quintana Roo, the fact that they are connected with Yucatan and Campeche, makes this area attractive for the reception of the drug, in Reception and distribution. As far as the south (state) area is concerned, there are people and I can tell you that even families who are involved in these activities, that there may be complicities from some authorities that protect them and sometimes prevent this situation (detentions) 

Are part of the investigations that are carried out, "says the prosecutor.

20 risk zones of consumption in Cancun

The tourist destination has 20 colonies or zones of high risk for the use of drugs, that is, in those colonies is living the largest percentage of consumers of harmful substances.

According to the Basic Community Study (EBCO) developed by the ICJ, there are at least 20 colonies of high risk and priority attention for the period 2013-2018, the same regions that must be addressed with drug prevention programs.