I unfortunately heard about the tragedy that took place during The BPM Festival on Monday, January 16th. It is absolutely vile for people to do it. According to a sign that was hung up that stated (translated from Spanish):
This is a sign that we are already here because you didn’t align PHILLIP -BPM, it is the beginning we are going to cut the heads of Golfos, PELONES and chapulines, Atte [Sincerely] el FAYO Z from the old SCHOOL
This was because the Zetas Cartel didn’t get their money that they tried to extort out of the festival (or their organizers). According to La Jornada Maya, The BPM Festival will no longer be taking place in Playa Del Carmen again. It is way too unsafe for tourists to arrive. The municipal president, Cristina Torres Gomez, the Business Coordinating Council of the Riviera Maya, and the representatives acknowledged that there are extortions. This sort of news is going to be a disaster to their local economy in regards to tourism.
What was most interesting is the comments on said site. One commenter, DANCE ENERGY NIGHT had this to say,
The police are the first to extort!
I as a tourist from Barcelona, I had to pay € 200 so that they would not get us arrested and they did not want to return the passport, without doing anything!
We were just on our way to the Reina Roja hotel.
The pick-up van was looking for tourists at 5am to extort.After having gone 4 years of tourism to playa del carmen and surrounding areas, none came back to visit them.
We prefer safer destinations without corrupt police!
Another commenter, Diana De Leon had this to say,
Everyone knew of the extortion, only now that affects the “image” of Playa are concerned about doing something. Useless …
Sadly, the local government isn’t doing much to stop the cartels and these massive events only drive tourism and money. It is a smart move to relocate the amazing festival that has been taking place for the past 10 years. We’re hoping for 10+ more in a safer location!
H/T: DJ Mag