Crystal Meth Addiction Surges in Quintana Roo, Fuels Nearly 90% of Homicides

Cancún, Quintana Roo — Crystal meth is the drug causing the greatest concern in Quintana Roo, both for the reach it has achieved and the addiction it produces, with consumption rising sharply, said Oscar Guzmán, the state commissioner against addictions.

“I would put my finger right on the wound with crystal, with methamphetamine. It is the drug of violence,” Guzmán said. “Fentanyl kills the person who consumes it very quickly. Crystal also kills the person who consumes it, but it kills society. I work in the state prisons, in the juvenile detention center, and it is very hard to find someone who has committed repeated homicides who does not have methamphetamine in their system.”

The problem has grown year after year, according to official records. In 2020, cases were isolated; today, every young person up to age 29 referred by judicial authorities has a crystal meth addiction, reflecting exponential growth each year.

Cheap, Local Production Drives Availability

Guzmán said crystal is produced locally from chemical precursors, which lowers its price and makes it available on a mass scale. Family breakdown compounds the problem.

He noted that 30% of mothers in Quintana Roo are single parents — three times the national average — leaving many young people without support and, often, leading them to try drugs.

The combination of easy access and family disintegration triggers episodes of extreme aggression, with institutional reports confirming that methamphetamine is present in nearly 90% of homicides, making it the leading driver of insecurity in the state, he said.

“Imagine cases of mothers on crystal who have confused their baby with a rat and beaten the child. This is extreme violence, and that is what worries us so much, because on top of everything it is cheap, because it is cooked here, it is a local issue,” Guzmán said. “It has irreversible effects, it is extremely addictive, and it is a very serious violence problem that is battering us.”

Authorities are now seeking to expand anti-addiction institutes to every municipality in the state. The goal is to pair medical treatment with rebuilding family support structures in order to check crystal’s advance and restore peace in Quintana Roo.