Violence and Fear Plague Quintana Roo Community

Señor, Quintana Roo — A state of psychosis has spread among the population of Señor due to violent incidents occurring in the locality, ranging from illegal deprivations of liberty to grenades thrown from a vehicle and homes being sprayed with gunfire.

This situation is compounded by the absence of patrols by federal forces. As a result, residents prefer not to speak about the issue.

The most recent violent incident in the town, located 30 kilometers from this municipal seat, was the illegal deprivation of liberty of a taxi driver who covers the Felipe Carrillo Puerto–Señor route and vice versa, perpetrated by an alleged armed commando wearing uniforms similar to those of the Mexican Army.

This situation has generated fear among the population, as no actions have been taken so far to restore tranquility. Locals even doubt the authenticity of the police forces that arrive in the community.

A citizen of Señor, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, stated: “The situation is bad. You can’t even trust the police and soldiers anymore. You don’t know if they’re real. Everything is falsified now. It’s scary to go out on the streets of our community.”

He added that in the town, people know who is involved in wrongdoing, but no one will say anything for fear of being harmed. And even more so because they don’t know if the authorities are complicit. They claim that even if they are detained, they are back on the streets shortly after as if nothing had happened.

He indicated that many things happen in the community, but fear persists and people avoid talking about the topic to avoid getting involved, because it’s not known who might be related to illegal activities.

In the last two years, various criminal incidents have been recorded in this locality: illegal deprivations of liberty, fragmentation grenades thrown in the streets of the town that did not explode when they fell in a mud puddle, homes shot at, and a taxi damaged by multiple projectiles without the driver being injured.

Meanwhile, authorities only secured a property after detecting an armed person who managed to flee and abandoned the weapon, which was secured during the operation.