Tulum Official Removed From Post Over Alleged Extortion Scheme Posing as Federal Inspectors

Tulum, Quintana Roo — The Quintana Roo Health Department (Sesa) has removed Emigdio Morales Mezquita from his position as head of the Health Risk Protection Coordination window in Tulum, following public accusations of extortion and impersonation of federal officials.

Morales Mezquita and his team of inspectors allegedly posed as agents of the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (Cofepris) to conduct fake health inspections at local businesses, demanding monthly bribes under threat of closure, according to business owners and local authorities.

The state health department said the removal is an administrative and preventive measure to ensure an impartial investigation. Sesa stated it is coordinating with Cofepris and other agencies to clarify the facts, and reiterated a “zero tolerance” policy toward corruption.

Business owners in Tulum told local media that the scheme had been operating for years. “Every year in my restaurants they have taken thousands of pesos in bribes, and it wasn’t even Cofepris,” one anonymous entrepreneur said after learning of the official’s removal.

The case has sparked political fallout. Tulum councilman Eugenio Barbachano, who heads the Anti-Corruption Commission, accused state Health Secretary Flavio Carlos Rosado of covering up the situation. Barbachano claimed he had repeatedly shared complaints from the private sector with Rosado, who promised to refer them to the appropriate authorities but never did.

“Flavio has been told about the private sector’s complaints of extortion — practically universal — for years, and from this supposed municipal Cofepris,” Barbachano said. “Far from helping and finding solutions, Flavio told us he would take our complaints to the proper authorities, something that never happened.”

Barbachano called the operation “an active fraud in broad daylight of magnitudes rarely seen,” and demanded not only the dismissal and criminal prosecution of Morales Mezquita for usurpation of functions, but also the removal of Secretary Rosado for institutional negligence.