Mexican Government Disarms and Detains Acapulco Police

The Mexican Secretariat of the Marines (SEMAR) deployed a force on September 27 to disarm the municipal police of Acapulco, Guerrero, questioning officials suspected of colluding with drug traffickers and taking over public security services. Gang and cartel-related violence have been erupting across Mexico’s tourist hubs, with multiple reports of shootings and hangings in Los Cabos, Cancun, and Mexico City in 2017. Acapulco, however, remains on a separate tier of violence, warranting its occupation by a coalition of federal and state police and SEMAR forces.

Much like Mexico’s other resort towns, Acapulco has become a hub of organized crime and homicide, with government estimates reporting slightly over 2000 homicides within the first eight months of 2018.

The disarmament of the Acapulco Municipal Police follows its newly-earned status as the third most violent police force in the world. Suspicions of its involvement with local cartels have been mounting. In the process of questioning, 18 officers were detained, including Secretary of Municipal Public Safety Max Sedano Romano among other high-ranking officials.

Marine and army officials extrajudicially held Secretary Romano in his office for three days while the disarmament of the forces he oversaw was occurring. Romano railed against these “malignant actions” by claiming that “the police is [sic] good, and should be trusted.” He also criticized the manner in which the operation, organized by the Group for Armed Coordination (the body that organizes operations involving different branches of the Mexican Armed Forces), took place. He further disclosed that his personal arms and over 30 thousand pesos were seized from him and that he was pressured to resign from his position.

The Group for Armed Coordination issued a press release declaring its intention to “apprehend Luis Fernando [of the Preventive Police] and Brayan Antonio [head of Coordination for Mobility and Transportation]… for their probable responsibility in the crime of qualified homicide.” Evodio Velázquez Aguirre, the mayor of Acapulco, stated that he had requested an investigation into the municipality police at the beginning of his term in 2015.

While measures are being taken to safeguard the public, the United States Embassy has issued a travel warning, highlighting the transition of Acapulco from a town “synonymous with beach, sun, and luxuries” to a nest of narco notoriety. However, given that “international visits to Mexico increased by six percent” in July despite an increase in violence, it remains to be seen if the newly-issued warnings will disrupt tourism in Acapulco.