Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa Message Board - Local news (increase in security presence)

I saw the increase in security the last couple of days. Local news did not give the reasons for increase, just due to recent events. Anyone know what recent events they are referring to?

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Contentious and volatile abortion rights discussions on some website?

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Couple of men shot between la ropa & los gatos & man decapitated in el posquelito near la puerta & his head delivered in a gift box beside the Hwy in Coacoyul

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Yowza, that has serious Elmore Leonard potential.

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Was that Tuesday night? Because I did hear some suspicious activity Tuesday night.

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I saw the increase in security the last couple of days. Local news did not give the reasons for increase, just due to recent events. Anyone know what recent events they are referring to?

Numerous shootouts all around the city, a large cocaine bust (3 tons) by the Marina, a head, a body without a head, reports of men kidnapping girls, robberies, holdups. Same old same old.

Police from other places are useless here. They don't know the area or the people, and by the time they even begin getting somewhat up to speed they're called away to put on a show somewhere else.

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We've had absolutely no safety concerns the past 3 weeks we have been here. This includes driving all over the area as well.

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We've had absolutely no safety concerns the past 3 weeks we have been here. This includes driving all over the area as well.

Tourists aren't usually their targets. Mostly just locals and our businesses. So good for you, but woe is be unto all of us who provide you the services you enjoy.

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Nice! I suppose you can be pretty flippant about it as long as it isn't your daughter getting kidnapped or someone you know getting robbed or beheaded.

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Nice! I suppose you can be pretty flippant about it as long as it isn't your daughter getting kidnapped or someone you know getting robbed or beheaded.

Flippant? Hardly. What a silly comment. I have no illusions about living here. The problems with crime and violence that we have today we've had for decades. I've known numerous people including family members who have suffered or been killed.

What does surprise me is that the government thinks this is a good place to develop a 100% tourism-based economy in numerous communities. One act of violence can easily scare away tourists for years. This is something I know about because I lived it in my youth in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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This is why I have been so skeptical of the idea of the National Guard. They are cycled in and out of our community on a regular basis and in my opinion have very little invested in the well being of our communities. Efforts to create a local police force that actually makes an effort to investigate and solve crimes would probably be far more effective. Instead we have multiple "law enforcement" agencies riding around in trucks with guns and all the criminals have to do is "time" their activities around the presence of those agents. So time and time again the agencies show up 10,15,20 minutes afterwards and pose for pictures as if they are doing something while little effort seems to go into actually pursuing the perpetrators. Once they get away the chances that the criminals will get caught is statistically less than 1%. Meanwhile there are tens of thousands of people in prison who haven't even had a trial yet because they lack the connections and resources to get on the docket of a corrupt and underfunded judiciary. It seems like we Mexicans need to learn from the failed policy of putting more military on the streets and start doing something different like increasing the odds of getting caught and being fairly tried and convicted for those crimes. That is a more proven way of deterring crime.

--
Humberto Romero
www.casaarcoiriszihuatanejo.com

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This is why I have been so skeptical of the idea of the National Guard. They are cycled in and out of our community on a regular basis and in my opinion have very little invested in the well being of our communities. Efforts to create a local police force that actually makes an effort to investigate and solve crimes would probably be far more effective. Instead we have multiple "law enforcement" agencies riding around in trucks with guns and all the criminals have to do is "time" their activities around the presence of those agents. So time and time again the agencies show up 10,15,20 minutes afterwards and pose for pictures as if they are doing something while little effort seems to go into actually pursuing the perpetrators. Once they get away the chances that the criminals will get caught is statistically less than 1%. Meanwhile there are tens of thousands of people in prison who haven't even had a trial yet because they lack the connections and resources to get on the docket of a corrupt and underfunded judiciary. It seems like we Mexicans need to learn from the failed policy of putting more military on the streets and start doing something different like increasing the odds of getting caught and being fairly tried and convicted for those crimes. That is a more proven way of deterring crime.

Yes, we've tried to engage with them to get their take, and although they may start out idealistic and hopeful, harsh realities quickly hit them. Especially when they arrive to be quartered and see their building has no A/C and their communal bathroom has no fixtures. Little details like that. It's a shame to see their enthusiasm wasted on photo ops and simulations. Personally I see them more as a branch of the military than as federal police.

And the judiciary is a huge mess beginning with los ministeriales. It seems much of what is wrong with Mexico's judicial system starts there, and apparently no one seems to have the cojones to deal with it. I won't even go into the prison system, a system apparently geared more for extorting by ministeriales than being a "centro de rehabilitación social" aka CERESO.

However, I think I speak for many long-time residents when I say we are glad to see the military here. As the previous mayor clearly demonstrated, the municipal police force was infiltrated if not controlled by criminals before he had them all locked up and vetted. Not a day goes by I don't give thanks for our local navy base. Although they may stir up trouble from time to time by making significant busts and arrests that "cause" reprisals, they are an important counterweight to some of the folks whose excesses would make life here quite miserable for locals otherwise.

But I'll take Zihuatanejo any day over the madness that reigns al otro lado.

---------------
"I get the feeling that this is the last time in history when the offbeats like me will have a chance to live free in the nooks and crannies of the huge and rigid structure of an increasingly codified society. Fifty years from now I would be hunted down in the street. They would drill little holes in my skull and make me sensible and reliable and adjusted."
Travis McGee from "The Quick Red Fox" (1964) John D. MacDonald

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You both have excellent points.

We agree that it is better here than there, but here needs improvement too. Maybe we can help steer things in the proper direction.

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1553 views

You both have excellent points.

We agree that it is better here than there, but here needs improvement too. Maybe we can help steer things in the proper direction.

Assume I know nothing. Explain to me the how and why of this recent violence.

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Assume I know nothing. Explain to me the how and why of this recent violence.

Cocaine tribe 1 double crosses cocaine tribe 2.
Cocaine tribe 2 retaliates? Just guessing.

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This gives a great segue into a conversation that many UnitedStaters don't want to participate in. Much of the violence in Mexico can be laid directly at the feet of our fifty-one-year-old (and counting!) War on Drugs. The U.S. has spent over US$1 trillion dollars and locked up over 1% of its population and drugs are now easier to obtain than they were 50 years ago. As an Orange County, California, Federal prosecutor turned Federal judge said after his retirement, "We couldn't have done worse if we tried." Meanwhile, the collateral damage to the Mexican population and economy has been devastating. Depending upon whose numbers you believe, well over 200,000 have died and tens of thousands are missing and presumed dead.

I wonder how the U.S. would react if the shoe were on the other foot. As Porfirio Diaz is reported to have said, "Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the US."

An alternative view of the War on Drugs

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This gives a great segue into a conversation that many UnitedStaters don't want to participate in. Much of the violence in Mexico can be laid directly at the feet of our fifty-one-year-old (and counting!) War on Drugs. The U.S. has spent over US$1 trillion dollars and locked up over 1% of its population and drugs are now easier to obtain than they were 50 years ago. As an Orange County, California, Federal prosecutor turned Federal judge said after his retirement, "We couldn't have done worse if we tried." Meanwhile, the collateral damage to the Mexican population and economy has been devastating. Depending upon whose numbers you believe, well over 200,000 have died and tens of thousands are missing and presumed dead.

I wonder how the U.S. would react if the shoe were on the other foot. As Porfirio Diaz is reported to have said, "Poor Mexico, so far from God, so close to the US."

An alternative view of the War on Drugs

Excellent commentary and article. I've been saying the same thing here for decades.

"...if you actually win a war on drugs, there’ll be no more incoming funds to fight that war forever and ever."

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I seriously doubt that, after/if drugs in the US are legalized, the gang members will be looking for honest employment. I'm sure they'll come up with another way to screw the general population.

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I seriously doubt that, after/if drugs in the US are legalized, the gang members will be looking for honest employment. I'm sure they'll come up with another way to screw the general population.

But the stupidly banned recreational substances that they smuggle to the USA are by far their main source of income. Of course, the longer governments and voters wait to DO THE RIGHT THING and decriminalize all substances, the stronger these criminal gangs get and the wider their web reaches, including into real estate, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing as they extort and force their way into different ventures and markets. They've already well positioned themselves into the political sphere of both our countries.

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I seriously doubt that, after/if drugs in the US are legalized, the gang members will be looking for honest employment. I'm sure they'll come up with another way to screw the general population.

Sadly, you are correct. This is all the more reason why the War on Drugs should never have been started in the first place. It is not as though we did not know exactly what would happen. In the 1960's, the experience of the first Prohibition regarding alcohol was staring the authorities in the face. The tremendous profits from selling alcohol in the 1930's fueled the rise of the so-called "underworld." (The astrologers said it was because the planet Pluto, the god of the underworld, had just been discovered. Ah, no. It was Prohibition I and the quest for intoxication by the vast majority of the God-fearin' Little Folk.) The underworld infiltrated much of the United States, up to and including the FBI, the very organization created to counter the rise of organized crime.

In the 1960's, Lenny Bruce quipped that marijuana would soon become legal because, "all the law students I know smoke it." Instead, the politicians starting with Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon saw it as a great vote getter. "We are tough on crime!" The crime, of course, being human and wishing to alter one's mood in the manner of their choosing. John Pryne sang, "And you may see me tonight with an illegal smile. It don't cost very much, but it lasts a long while." Buff Rose sang, "Oh, Dear! How can I lose? Good bye, pot. Hello, booze!" Phil Ochs sang, "Smoking marijuana is more fun than drinking beer but one of our friends was captured and they gave him thirty years!"

As Rob said, we need to remove the major source of income from the gangs by legalizing recreational drugs as soon as possible. In addition, we need to release the drug prisoners from the overcrowded jails immediately. It's costing us billions! In their place, we need drug counseling and public awareness programs based on serious taxes placed upon the legal drugs sales and the savings from not locking up a large percentage of our population.

Of course, don't expect this to happen any time soon. Ask your local politician or DEA agent what they think about this strategy. Ask your local, regional, national, or global drug dealer. Ask Seagram's and Budweiser and the Oxycontin and Oxycodone manufacturers what they think.

One last comment, someone may argue, "but the marijuana of today is far more potent than the marijuana of the 1960's and 1970's and that's why we can't legalize it." You respond with a resounding, "Well, duh! That's exactly what we knew would happen!" Before Prohibition I, beer and wine vastly outsold hard liquors. Of course, if you are dealing in contraband, you want to be able to transport the most amount of product in the least amount of space. Therefore, the Rum Runners concentrated on hard liquors. The same dynamic affected marijuana. The growers wanted more and more potent product so that the transportation and distribution would be more profitable while attracting the least amount of unwanted attention. It was the very act of keeping marijuana illegal that produced the unbelievably potent strains that we see today.

Please do not think that I am advocating drug use in any form. You would be sadly mistaken. I get a buzz off the communion wine at mass. I get the shakes from drinking coffee. I can't even take an aspirin without getting a massive stomach ache. Marijuana makes me stupid and paranoid. However, as I said to the Customs and Border Agent at my SENTRI interview when she asked if I did any illegal drugs, "I went to college ... a million years ago."

In short, the War on Drugs is a war on ourselves. We will not win it. It is bleeding our nation and it is making those who have no concern for human life rich and powerful. We could not have done a worse job if we tried.

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Very well said! I agree 110%

--
Humberto Romero
www.casaarcoiriszihuatanejo.com

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In 1964, the USA declared a Wr on Poverty.

The war on poverty is the unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_poverty

Poverty won.

The war on drugs is a global campaign,[6] led by the U.S. federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States. The term was popularized by the media shortly after a press conference given on June 18, 1971, by President Richard Nixon

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_drugs

Drugs won.

As Bob Dylan sang,

Yes, and how many deaths will it take 'til he knows
That too many people have died?

https://youtu.be/vWwgrjjIMXA

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For decades, Canada was tied to the US War on Drugs. (As an aside, why do so many things have to be “war”?) Canadians have suffered similarly from that approach.

In recent years. Canada has taken a different approach to these issues than the USA or Mexico.

There is a growing agreement in Canada that problematic substance use is a health issue that can be prevented, managed, and treated, and that requires a health focussed response.

In December 2016, the Government of Canada announced that it was replacing the former National Anti-Drug Strategy with the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy (CDSS). The strategy, now led by the Minister of Health, is delivered in collaboration with fourteen other federal departments and agencies, and includes four pillars - prevention, treatment, harm reduction and enforcement - which are supported by a strong evidence base.

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/canadian-drugs-substances-strategy/strengthening-canada-approach-substance-use-issue....

Imagine that. Public policies that are supportive of the citizenry and have a strong evidence base, rather than policies that punish victims and are based on outrage and political posturing.

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Some more food for thought: Substance Abuse of Opioids and Medical Marijuana Usage

Note: YouTube will require acknowledgement that you are an adult to watch this video. Pretty bizarre.

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NOTE: This is about British Columbia, not Baja California.

Adults in British Columbia will be allowed to possess small amounts of some illicit drugs starting next year, the federal government announced Tuesday — a move that marks a dramatic shift in Canada's drug policy.

… the exemption is a dramatic policy shift in favour of what decriminalization advocates say is an approach that treats addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. One of the goals of decriminalization is to reduce the stigma associated with substance abuse.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/opioid-crisis-bc-canada-1.6471878

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… the exemption is a dramatic policy shift in favour of what decriminalization advocates say is an approach that treats addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. One of the goals of decriminalization is to reduce the stigma associated with substance abuse.

A government demonstrating a common sense approach to a complex issue? Shocking!

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It has taken years of strong advocacy and constant pressure on the government to get this 3 year trial in place. Families of addicts still using and those who have died of overdoses have worked really hard to achieve this.
In 2021, there were 2,224 overdose deaths in BC alone. I think there are 6-7 ODs per day. I am unsure of the national number. So far this year, overdose deaths seem to indicate there will be even more, except for this new rule. Since 2016, almost 10,000 lives have been lost to bad drugs (just in BC).
It will be interesting to see if this helps to stem using and deaths. The proof is in the pudding, as they say, so we will see.
I have had to drag a girl out of a creek at the dogpark when she was ODing, and call 911 several times when I've seen people in trouble on the streets and around town.
I tried to remind my son about discarded needles when he was in grade 7, but he told me they saw people shooting up every day in the neighbourhood around the school. His point being that he was well aware of used needles. Almost daily, I see ambulances responding to people laying on the street, most suffering ODs. I think it must really wear on the nerves of our cops and EMTs, having to deal with OD after OD after OD, day in and day out. An actual crime or fender bender must be a relief to attend.
Let's hope this three year trial period offers some solutions to this crisis that can be applied nation wide.

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Oregon has also decriminalized possession of small amounts of "illegal" drugs. So far, because mental health services are far from adequate and mental health response teams are scarce (there's a pilot project underway, but it only exists in one of Portland's 96 neighborhoods), the police appear to have just given up and do not respond to calls from residents about public drug use and the dangerous activities and trash that ensue.

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I wish I could share your optimism. By delaying the implementation until 1 January, an estimated 1500-2000 more British Columbians will die from drug overdose during the 7 month delay. And those close to the problem state that the possession level of 2.5 grams is so low that it won't make any difference to heavy users....and they're the ones dying.
Sounds to me like a government with good intentions, falling far short of what the experts are telling us is needed. If those experts are right, a three year trial period just kicks the can down the road for another three years.

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I wish I could share your optimism. By delaying the implementation until 1 January, an estimated 1500-2000 more British Columbians will die from drug overdose during the 7 month delay. And those close to the problem state that the possession level of 2.5 grams is so low that it won't make any difference to heavy users....and they're the ones dying.
Sounds to me like a government with good intentions, falling far short of what the experts are telling us is needed. If those experts are right, a three year trial period just kicks the can down the road for another three years.

Yet even with all its shortcomings, it's still a step further in the right direction than almost any other nation on the planet. Not even a handful of nations or states take such a helpful, logical or humane approach to dealing with the problem of DRUG ABUSE, because taken in context, USE alone isn't much of a problem.

I'm still not convinced by the 21st century.

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I hope the Canadian government will have the courage to take the next necessary step, which is to develop safe supply. Previously, media referred to “drug overdose” deaths. The media has matured to recogize these not as being “overdoses” but “poisonings”. People are taking non-opioid drugs, but the drugs are laced with fentanyl, resulting in them being stronger and more dangerous.

I go for a walk every morning. Within the past two weeks I came across a fentanyl poisoning. I phoned an ambulance while anothe Samaritan administered naloxone. Together, we prevented another drug poisoning death.

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Today, the Canadian federal government announced they have agreed to a British Columbia request to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use. Marijuana, of course, has already been decriminalized.
Effective Jan/23, individuals can possess up to 2.5 grams, in total, of opiates, cocaine, methamphetamines and/or MDMA (Ecstasy). Anyone apprehended for whatever reason will not have that amount of "personal" drugs confiscated. Officials have gone to great lengths to clarify that such possession for personal use has NOT been legalized, only decriminalized. (I'm unsure of the difference, at the street level, but I'm not a lawyer)
Already, while the changes have been applauded by most of those knowledgeable of the drug situation, it has been criticized for establishing the 2.5 gram limit as unreasonably low: most have said the limit should be at least 3 - 5 times higher.
I wasn't even aware that our criminal code could be massaged to decriminalize something in one province that is a criminal offence in every other province, but what do I know?

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You both have excellent points.

We agree that it is better here than there, but here needs improvement too. Maybe we can help steer things in the proper direction.

Assume I know nothing. Explain to me the how and why of this recent violence.

You're asking someone to publish here details which have not been made known to the general public, details that get reporters, activists and bloggers killed. I don't recommend it and I don't seek to be more of a target than I already am for speaking out against the things I do. It's one thing to speak in generalities, another to reveal details. You'll notice almost none of our local papers mention any shootings, and when they do, there are no details or follow-up stories. I'm still awaiting a report on the remains found last month in the yard of one of my neighbors. Nothing has been printed and reporters here instinctively seem not to pursue such matters.

Hardly any local family remains untouched by the violence and lawlessness in Guerrero. Some families have lost several members or suffered multiple extortions or kidnappings. Many of us do not answer phone calls from unknown numbers.

You already know we have no professional police force, a dysfunctional judicial system, we are neighbors to the biggest consumer of stupidly banned recreational substances whose black market for those substances is dominated by violent organized criminals who fight among each other for control of that market as well as other benefits of being the dominant criminal gang in any region, town or city. The violence generated by these criminal gangs as they all seek to profit from the multi-billion dollar a year black market trade ruins and destroys many lives and communities here and elsewhere. Zihuatanejo is no exception. Ours is a perfectly situated port for supplying passing narco-vessels with fuel to make their journey northward, and we are also a key transit point for various substances produced and trafficked through our region.

Following comments in social media on news articles about things like shootings, extortions and kidnappings often offers more insight than the actual news articles. Often the criminals themselves comment quite brazenly, but no one wants to spread their comments for fear of retribution.

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1659 views

You both have excellent points.

We agree that it is better here than there, but here needs improvement too. Maybe we can help steer things in the proper direction.

Assume I know nothing. Explain to me the how and why of this recent violence.

You're asking someone to publish here details which have not been made known to the general public, details that get reporters, activists and bloggers killed. I don't recommend it and I don't seek to be more of a target than I already am for speaking out against the things I do. It's one thing to speak in generalities, another to reveal details. You'll notice almost none of our local papers mention any shootings, and when they do, there are no details or follow-up stories. I'm still awaiting a report on the remains found last month in the yard of one of my neighbors. Nothing has been printed and reporters here instinctively seem not to pursue such matters.

Hardly any local family remains untouched by the violence and lawlessness in Guerrero. Some families have lost several members or suffered multiple extortions or kidnappings. Many of us do not answer phone calls from unknown numbers.

You already know we have no professional police force, a dysfunctional judicial system, we are neighbors to the biggest consumer of stupidly banned recreational substances whose black market for those substances is dominated by violent organized criminals who fight among each other for control of that market as well as other benefits of being the dominant criminal gang in any region, town or city. The violence generated by these criminal gangs as they all seek to profit from the multi-billion dollar a year black market trade ruins and destroys many lives and communities here and elsewhere. Zihuatanejo is no exception. Ours is a perfectly situated port for supplying passing narco-vessels with fuel to make their journey northward, and we are also a key transit point for various substances produced and trafficked through our region.

Following comments in social media on news articles about things like shootings, extortions and kidnappings often offers more insight than the actual news articles. Often the criminals themselves comment quite brazenly, but no one wants to spread their comments for fear of retribution.

I am beginning to get duly informed. Luckily I still tend to hang out in yoga studios and bicycle shops

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Exactly Rob!

--
Humberto Romero
www.casaarcoiriszihuatanejo.com

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Wasn't there a big announcement eight or ten years ago that Mexico was going to overhaul its judicial system to look more like the US? Whatever happened to that?

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Wasn't there a big announcement eight or ten years ago that Mexico was going to overhaul its judicial system to look more like the US? Whatever happened to that?

Yeah. The head of that responsibility sits in a U.S. jail on criminal- and drug-related charges.

That's part of what makes the Morena party so popular: they're going after corruption. Not saying they're perfect, but besides winning the presidency 5 years ago and Guerrero in last year's election, they just won a bunch more governorships in recent elections just a few days ago.

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EL CHAPO! Aka. Mr. Guzman

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EL CHAPO! Aka. Mr. Guzman

No, Genaro García Luna who was Secretaría de Seguridad Pública during the sexenio of Felipe Calderón Hinojosa.

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Small Drug Possession Decriminalized in BC

Small Drug Possession Decriminalized in BC

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Small Drug Possession Decriminalized in BC

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Small Drug Possession Decriminalized in BC

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