Photojournalist assaulted by Tourist Police in Playa del Carmen

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A photojournalist working for a local news agency, was arbitrarily detained and beaten by Tourist Police officers while carrying out his work duties on Tuesday morning on Fifth Avenue, an incident that has already been formally reported.

The photojournalist was walking along Fifth Avenue around 9 a.m. on Tuesday to take photographs when he was intercepted by two Tourist Police officers. After a search, to which he did not object, and with his full identification presented, they proceeded to handcuff him without informing him of the cause, stating only that he had been seen on cameras.

While in Tourist Police patrol vehicle number 83067, he attempted to make a call to report his detention. One of the officers got out of the unit he was driving, opened the back door, and punched the photojournalist in the face with a closed fist, also taking away his phone.

Upon arriving at Parque Fundadores, where more Tourist Police officers were gathered, they removed the handcuffs and the attitude changed. They began to leave until an officer approached and apologized for what they had done to him. Later, Osiris Ceballos Díaz, director of the Tourist Police, also offered an apology.

The incident has been reported by the victim to the State Attorney General’s Office under investigation file FGE/QROO/SOL/01/793/2026 for the crime of abuse of authority.

Regarding this, Carlos Montesinos García, Secretary of Citizen Security of Playa del Carmen, reported that the Internal Affairs Directorate has initiated the corresponding administrative file, numbered 022/01/2026, to investigate the conduct of the public servant, with his suspension from duties ordered as a precautionary measure.

The Secretariat of Citizen Security of Playa del Carmen stated that “in relation to the events that occurred in the morning, in the vicinity of the so-called Parque Fundadores, where a male person was arbitrarily detained by an officer attached to this Secretariat (…) the citizen was referred to the State Attorney General’s Office so that he could file his complaint and responsibilities could be determined.”