Playa del Carmen Businesses Accuse Officials of Extortion

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Hotel and restaurant owners have filed complaints with federal and state prosecutors accusing municipal civil protection inspectors of extortion, alleging officials demanded payments to stop issuing fines and allow their businesses to operate.

The complainants, who say they have run lodging, food and beverage businesses in Playa del Carmen for two decades with valid permits from every municipal administration, told authorities that inspectors from the Secretariat of Civil Protection, Risk Prevention and Firefighters demanded between 5,000 and 20,000 pesos, depending on the business type. In exchange, the officials offered to process internal civil protection programs, waive fines, authorize permits, resolve inspections and approve operating licenses, according to complaints filed Aug. 6.

Business owners who refused to pay were warned that inspections would continue and that they would be fined for even the smallest irregularities — a practice the owners described as “evident extortion.”

The complaints name Darwin Manuel Covarrubias Góngora, head of the municipal civil protection agency, and allege coordination with the city’s inspection and collection offices, which the owners link to Julián Lara Maldonado and Hilario San Pedro Perera. They described Covarrubias as an official with a checkered past.

“This situation is not new,” the business owners said. “Covarrubias has been linked to organized crime cells operating in Quintana Roo since he held the same position in the municipality of Solidaridad,” referring to his time under former Mayor Laura Beristain Navarrete.

The complaints were filed under case numbers FGR/ATN/4689/2026 with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and FGE/QR/SOL/DEL/4369/2026 with the Quintana Roo State Prosecutor’s Office. The owners said the most recent alleged incidents occurred on the morning of July 7.

The complaints also say inspectors have intensified pressure on businesses that use LP gas, carrying out arbitrary checks and imposing fines or closures even when establishments hold valid civil protection certificates and gas safety inspections.

The owners said they fear reprisals and are tired of what they called “badge extortion” by public servants backed by the municipal civil protection agency. They cited a similar complaint in Isla Mujeres — file FGE/QROO/FECDSYE/03/21/2026 — and said such practices are common across Quintana Roo.

The improper charges have disrupted operations and forced some businesses to close, the owners said, describing the coordinated pressure as “a hunt against businesses.” They called on Mexico’s Security Cabinet to intervene, saying the alleged corruption threatens the economic and social life of Playa del Carmen.

The business owners also said a WhatsApp anti-corruption hotline set up by Mayor Estefanía Mercado’s office has received no response or follow-up.