Cabo San Lucas Shootout – Cartel Violence Comes to Cabo?
Cabo San Lucas shootout…The facts after the fact…
Yes unfortunately there were several shootouts in the resort own of Cabo San Lucas this past weekend. It has yet to be disclosed if for sure these events are associated with each other or not. Well north of Cabo’s downtown area in the early hours of Saturday morning began some shootings near the Las Brisas area. There was one Marine and one criminal killed. Later on Saturday morning police saw a few armed men supposedly in the parking lot of the Senedero shopping mall and were fired upon. While the shootout lasted intermittently for some time most of what happen is people ran into the stores of the mall as well as some suspected criminals. The Mexican police, Army and Marines kept the people in the mall for their safety. Once the site was secured the police assisted the stranded customers to exit and check to see who was among them to see if any criminals might be trying to escape the scene among the civilians.
It has been reported that the Mexican authorities detained 6 people concerning the shootings and have continued their search for more. Yes, this is very disheartening, as it really hits home to many that this type of violence has not been previously known to Cabo San Lucas. Yes, there have been in the past criminals who have killed people including a police Captain of Homicide last week who was investigating a 3-4 person murder that might have been drug related. We have never before seen in Cabo open shooting in any public areas such as this.
These seem to be the facts and yes, it is a problem but the Mexican authorities not just from Cabo, but many more from other areas were brought in to control the situation quickly. There were many rumors such as civilians being killed but the only facts I know of, were a few civilians were rushed to the hospital after having nervous break downs.
To me the greatest fact is that all residents are now very upset that this kind of thing could happen in this beautiful resort town that has no real reason for this type of violence. Cabo San Lucas is only a resort town and while many party here, the drugs sold illegally don’t amount to anything for Cartels to really care about. So why the violence? Possibly to disrupt Mexico’s tourism, like the cruise ships, the upcoming G20 conference planned to be held here or just give the Mexican authorities another black eye by showing them they can affect anyone anywhere in Mexico.
There is still not enough fact to say why, but I feel to deny and hide the fact is not at all productive. Many business people are concerned about tourism, as they should be and I had one ex-client tell me not to publish anything concerning the shootings as the world press might find out. Well of course the world press has found out and I’m at least pleased to see that in most cases they have reported facts and not a bunch of media hype. This ex-client also explained “what’s the big deal…here in Phoenix just on Friday night there were multiple police officers and criminals shot…it happens every day here so what’s the big deal?” Personally I believe this is why it happens so much in the US while there is not a definite conflict or war going on; people just put their heads in the sand and say oh well it just happens. Tolerating crime, violence, corruption and not doing anything does nothing to solve the problems we are experiencing globally these days.
Being a part of the solution… Now that this has happened though; many more Cabo residents are not just standing by in fear but are reporting suspicious activities and creating neighborhood watches to increase everyone’s awareness and to inform authorities of possible dangers. I’m always sorry to see things must get worse before they get better but every resident I have spoken with, whether Mexican or not, seems to be very pleased to have the additional security and are very tolerant of the authorities upping the security in Cabo San Lucas and the highways all over Baja Sur.
I don’t feel that much more 'unsafe'
here today than before this and don’t believe Cabo San Lucas or all of Mexico is dangerous. I’ve even spent nights in last few months walking the tourist streets of Tijuana late at night and in the wee hours of the mornings only to find polite and helpful people including the police and Army asking me if I’m okay and feel safe. Most of the cities of Mexico are working hard as they can to keep everyone safe, as they know that without tourism, which is a major part of their economy, is at risk if people feel they are not safe to travel here. There still however are some major areas and cities that have been or gotten out of control with the Drug War violence. This cannot be denied and people should be aware of where they are going and how they travel. To this the BajaInsider.com has worked hard to publish accurate as possible travel warnings whenever we have new information that is factual we pass it along here (Mexico Travel Warning in Perspective) .
Unfortunately I don’t know of any way to stop this global violence associated with illegal drugs except for, legalizing them all and taxing them under government control. Prohibition never worked in the U.S. years ago except to create more criminals and illegal profits like those of the famous Al Capone of Chicago. I believe the best way to deal with drug abuse is the same as with alcohol and that is through education and helping people rehabilitate themselves if they choose to quit these addictive practices. Taking the money out of the illegal business takes the violence and corruption out with it. I’m not saying that I’d like to see everyone using drugs but I haven’t drank alcohol by choice for 30 years because I’m an alcoholic and so I choose to quit practicing a long time ago. Others may do the same but even if we keep drugs harder to get people will find something to get high on whether it be sniffing glue in a paper bag or abusing prescription medicines.
I don’t believe that expecting our governments to protect us from ourselves is ever going to be the solution. We need to care for ourselves and then there would much less of a market as people would be high enough on life to not need to abuse substances of any kind. This may sound a bit idealistic to some, but more and more people I speak with, who never used drugs seem to be in agreement it is time to stop this insanity. Mexico’s ex-President Fox has proposed this repeatedly as a way to stop the violence and I’m becoming more of a believer unless anyone has a better way I’m all ears.
I too am concerned for the perception that people are unsafe in all of Mexico. We however believe at BajaInsider.com in passing on what we know to be true and if I felt that people are really in danger if they come here to Los Cabos to vacation or live I would say so, even at the risk of losing more business due to the worsening of the economy based on peoples’ fears of Mexico justified or not. At this time I cannot say this is truly the case. I hope and expect that with people assisting more and more to ensure everyone’s safety; that we will actually be safer. If it gets worse and more violence continues we will of course let you know but not with a bunch of hype or rumors.
If you have read my comments this far then I thank you reading this and hopefully can help us keeps this a heavenly paradise that we live in and not let it be turned into hell. I also hope that those that wish to come and visit this little paradise at the tip of Baja do still continue to come but of course not at the risk of their safety. Believe me when I say statistically there is a much greater chance that you will be hurt or worse killed by a drunk or texting driver these days in almost anywhere in world that you may live.
I invite people to comment directly to me and if you do not want your comments published by me just say so. We never quote people without their direct permission but welcome all comments good or bad.( Send Email to jag@bajainsider.com) Remember this is a note from publisher and is an editorial expressing my beliefs and not those of our clients or everyone else associated with BajaInsider.com.
I will close this by applauding the residents of Cabo whether nationals or foreign, for keeping their calm and helping in keeping our city safer in the future by being more involved and more aware of what is happening.
Thank you and have a safe visit to Cabo San Lucas.