Crime Syndicates Infiltrate Quintana Roo Taxi Unions

The battle between taxi unions and digital ride-hailing apps has revealed a deep-seated issue within the industry: organized crime has seeped into the driver's unions. Recent arrests for murder and drug-related offenses connected to Morena highlight this issue.

In Playa Del Carmen, Quintana Roo, the arrest of Salomón Alfonso Muñoz, leader of the Andrés Quintana Roo taxi union, has unveiled a series of criminal activities. This union, which oversees more than eight thousand taxi licenses in Cancún, has been implicated in torture, murder, and drug distribution. These alleged crimes are reportedly orchestrated by the union's leadership, which has ties to the current Morena-led government. Similar incidents have been reported in other tourist hotspots in the state, such as Tulum and Playa del Carmen, where taxi drivers and union leaders have been implicated in serious crimes.

Alfonso Muñoz, also known as Mafer, was arrested on November 4th, as announced by the Quintana Roo Prosecutor's Office. He had been serving as the interim general secretary of the union following the resignation of Rubén Carrillo Buenfil in October. Carrillo Buenfil, a local deputy for the PT, won his seat in the recent local elections in a Cancún district, leading the "Let's Keep Making History for Quintana Roo" coalition, spearheaded by Morena. His resignation was prompted by fellow taxi drivers' complaints that he was supporting digital platforms like Uber from the Legislature, rather than backing his own union members. In Cancún, a conflict continues to rage between taxi drivers and digital platform operators, a conflict that has escalated to include murders, with drivers from digital platforms often being the primary victims.