Army finds cocaine in Cozumel amid police absence

Cozumel, Quintana Roo — The seizure of one kilogram of cocaine in the eastern zone of the island is not an isolated incident or a fortuitous ‘wash-up.’ It is another sign that drug trafficking routes operate normally in Cozumel, while the Municipal Police and local authorities remain absent from critical points.

The package was located by elements of the Mexican Army during a coastal foot reconnaissance in the vicinity of Castillo Real, an area where there are no recent reports of municipal patrols, despite being a stretch repeatedly pointed out by fishermen and residents as a clandestine landing point.

The seal that reveals criminal operation

The wrapping, approximately one kilogram, bore a black sticker with the distinctive ‘007,’ a common batch control mark used by criminal organizations to identify quality, route, or destination. It is not improvisation. It is logistics.

‘Wash-up’ or tolerated landing

The official narrative often reduces these findings to drugs dragged by the current. However, recent weather conditions and the exact location point to a detachment during transfer maneuvers at sea, not an accident. Specialists consulted agree: the eastern coast of Cozumel functions as an operational corridor for:

• Transfers in open sea from vessels coming from South America.
• Temporary storage at points of low surveillance.
• Quick exit to the mainland and, subsequently, the northern border.

Three decades of impunity in the Caribbean

The Mexican Caribbean has been used as a transnational corridor for more than 30 years. A single successful operation of two tons can be worth up to 80 million dollars. Under that logic, a ‘lost’ kilogram is merely the visible residue of larger loads that do reach their destination.

The uncomfortable question: why does no one see?

The key data is not the kilogram seized by the Army. It is the systematic absence of the Municipal Police in the same stretches where the military does find drugs. Who monitors those beaches? Who controls accesses, trails, and schedules? Why are there no local arrests or prior municipal seizures?

Residents of the area point to nocturnal movements of fast boats, vehicles without license plates, and intermittent presence of ‘hawks.’ Even so, there are no public reports of municipal operations or sustained preventive actions. Omission, in these cases, is also a form of complicity.

Federal authorities do the local work

The package was made available to the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic to integrate the corresponding file. Once again, the Federation collects what the municipality lets pass.

In Cozumel, the message is clear: drug trafficking does not operate in hiding; it operates where it is not disturbed. And while the Army patrols on foot, the municipal authority still does not explain why its beaches are the route, warehouse, and exit of the criminal business.