Tulum Fires Over 50 Public Officials in Anti-Corruption Crackdown

Tulum, Quintana Roo — The municipality of Tulum has dismissed more than 50 public officials since the start of the current administration, the president of the City Council’s Anti-Corruption Commission announced Tuesday.

Eugenio Barbachano Losa said the firings stem from serious administrative offenses including bribery, embezzlement, and favoritism. In some cases, officials were caught collecting taxes under the table instead of routing payments to the treasury, he said. Others were found to have granted undue privileges to themselves, family members, or friends.

“We have fired the heads of Treasury, Urban Development, Public Works, Tourism, the General Secretariat, Oversight, Civil Protection, Human Resources, and Traffic,” Barbachano said in an interview.

Among the most notable dismissals were brothers Antonio and Lorenzo Miranda Miranda, who served as treasurer and director general of urban development, respectively. Barbachano said numerous other directors and mid-level administrative staff have also been removed.

The commissioner said a payroll audit uncovered more than 200 people on the city’s payroll who did not report to any municipal workplace. Eliminating those positions reduced what he called “the burden of ghost employees inherited from previous administrations.”

Barbachano said his own office operates with just two staff members — the smallest on the city council — as part of an austerity push in response to declining tourism revenue.