Cancun, Quintana Roo — Federal transport workers say National Guard agents assigned to Cancun International Airport have been harassing them for weeks, ordering them to leave without explanation while allowing unlicensed Uber drivers and pirate taxis to operate with impunity.
A transport service promoter who spoke on condition of anonymity said a group of about 40 drivers, all with valid federal permits and paperwork, are forced to leave terminals or are stopped at checkpoints without cause. “It’s an abuse of their authority; they won’t let us work,” he said. “They chase us from one terminal to another, supposedly on orders from above.”
The workers do not know whether the harassment is part of an extortion scheme or an attempt to favor competitors, but the situation has become intolerable and could lead to a protest. “Because it’s a federal zone, we can’t report them to any authority; they also have traffic powers, so they do whatever they want,” he complained.
The promoter alleged that a group of organized Uber drivers pay the agents a monthly fee to enter the airport freely. Pirate taxi drivers, who have operated with impunity for years, also go unchecked despite using private plates and lacking permits, he said.
“We just ask to be allowed to work, because we’re not hurting anyone; we only offer our services,” he said. “There’s a list of those who charge excessive fares, and we’re not on it — we comply with all legal requirements.”
Instead of stopping them without reason at checkpoints, the National Guard should start cracking down on the rampant illegal transport at the airport, he argued. “Extorting Uber drivers for a cut is not their job,” he said.
Threatened at Gunpoint
The whistleblower recounted a frightening incident at Cancun International Airport when a man in a private car threatened him with a firearm just meters from the National Guard command post, without any intervention from authorities.
That night, federal agents forced him to leave Terminal 4. As he drove toward Terminal 2, a Mazda with private plates pulled up behind him and flashed its high beams. The transport worker pulled over to let it pass, near the command post, but the other car stopped behind him.
When the driver got out, the man — wearing shorts and a cap — began insulting him and demanding he come closer. The whistleblower saw the man holding a gun, so he got back in his car and drove toward the command post.
“There was a tall, chubby agent — I remember him well — and I reported what happened. He told me to move along and that he would check it out,” he said. “I left, but near the garden area, that car appeared again, driving the wrong way and blocking my path.”
He managed to escape back to Terminal 2 and asked National Guard agents for help, but they warned him to leave “because there’s trouble,” he said. He left.
The next day, he learned the man was a National Guard commander who was drunk and allegedly looking for a fight. All his subordinates knew it and allowed him to threaten people and move freely in the federal zone.
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