Playa del Carmen Investigates Alleged Police Extortion of Canadian Tourist

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Municipal authorities are investigating a Canadian tourist’s complaint that Playa del Carmen police officers detained him without explanation, subjected him to degrading treatment and demanded 9,500 pesos for his release.

Luis Herrera, secretary general of the Playa del Carmen city hall, confirmed that the municipal government knows about the case, which has circulated widely on social media, and said it has been formally taken up for investigation. He declined, however, to take a position on the officers’ conduct while the inquiry is underway.

The complainant, identified as Luis Alberto Cavanzo, a Canadian citizen of Colombian origin, posted a video describing his arrest in the early hours of Oct. 18 while he was walking along Quinta Avenida, the city’s main tourist strip, at around 5 or 6 a.m.

Detention without explanation

Cavanzo said several officers handcuffed him without telling him why and put him in a patrol car, where two other people were later placed as well. The police action may have stemmed from an administrative violation — reportedly urinating in a public street — but that has not been officially confirmed, and no documentation establishing the legal grounds for the detention has been released.

According to his account, officers at the police facility took his identification documents, phone and cash. He said he was then taken to an area where an officer ordered the three detainees to pull down their pants after questioning one of them in an intimidating manner about his sexual orientation.

Cavanzo said he was held for about six hours with no clear information about his legal situation and no way to contact relatives or consular officials.

The payment

The most serious part of his complaint concerns the money he says he was forced to pay to regain his freedom. Cavanzo said he was told he owed a 9,500-peso fine, and that because he had no cash with him he was asked to hand over his bank card and personal identification number so the money could be withdrawn. Fearing he would remain locked up, he said, he provided the details.

He added that before letting him go, officers told him that if anyone asked how much he had paid, he should say it was only 5,500 pesos — a difference of 4,000 pesos from the amount initially demanded.

No bank records have been presented so far to establish how much money was withdrawn, and it has not been shown that any administrative procedure justified a fine.

City hall response

Asked about the allegations, Herrera said municipal authorities learned of the case through social media and decided to investigate.

“Of course the case is taken up for the corresponding investigation and determination of responsibilities,” the secretary general said.

He added that no official position on the facts can be issued yet because the inquiry is still in its early stages.

“At this moment we cannot issue an official position given that it is at the investigation stage, but we are aware of the incident,” he said.

The case raises questions about detention procedures, how administrative violations are recorded, how fines are imposed and what oversight exists inside the city’s holding cells. Even if the tourist were confirmed to have committed an administrative violation, that would not justify extortion, intimidation or degrading treatment by public officials.

Investigators could also draw on officers’ body cameras and the video surveillance systems installed in the tourist district, although no footage of the detention has been released so far.