Cancun, Quintana Roo — A traffic officer in Benito Juarez has been fired after allegedly demanding more than $600 from a tourist couple to avoid issuing a fine in Puerto Juarez.
The incident was captured on video and widely shared on social media. In the footage, a bystander approaches the foreign couple and asks in English what the officer had told them. The tourists explain that the officer asked for $630 to waive a ticket. The citizen then confronts the officer, who speeds away on his motorcycle patrol.
The encounter occurred last week in Puerto Juarez, but the video went viral in recent days.
Benito Juarez Mayor Ana Paty Peralta announced that the officer had been dismissed from the force. Accompanied by Jaime Barrientos, municipal secretary of public security, she said the decision was immediate and part of a zero-tolerance policy toward corruption within municipal agencies.
Peralta thanked the tourists for their cooperation, stating, “Their participation was fundamental in ensuring this case did not go unpunished.”
The mayor also urged citizens to avoid participating in corrupt acts and to report any misconduct by municipal security personnel.
