Anonymous

I also have a story and with to remain anonymous. When I was a young woman in the early 90's, I used to go to Mexico frequently to have fun. During the course of my travels to Cancun, I made friends with people. One of them was a man named Juan Delfin, who used to work at the large, popular marina that gave tours to tourists. Long story short, we eventually got married. That's when the horror began. We moved to Playa del Carmen, and I was very aware of the police corruption, etc. My well behaved and loving fiance turned into a drug addicted, alcoholic playboy. He "went job hunting" in the morning, and came back stoned and with love bites on his neck. He became violent,breaking my nose with a closed punch, terrorizing me for money, stealing my things and selling them as well as robbing me,for money. I called the police, who were drunk and corrupt. One attempted to help, but was all hands as he drove me to our apartment, where Juan was threatening to kill my pets. The cop did threaten Juan badly that he was scared of being arrested. The police left, and he then threatened to kill me, drawing a knife. I moved into a friends place the next morning when he went out "looking for jobs" all day. I flew home to the US as soon as a flight was available. I was there for nearly a year, and had to save money in order to go home. In that time, I met other young foreign /US women who were being used and abused, cheated on and abandoned for weeks as their husbands and boyfriends went out "looking for money". I've heard endless stories of tactics used by bandits to rob tourists of money. There's many who hang out at airports, looking to be "of assistance". Some team up with taxi drivers, who are in with the police on certain scams. Fill the taxi full of tourists then the cop stops the taxi down the street. The "ticket" is expensive and the driver can't pay it, so he asks the passengers to all chip in to pay it. Scam. I saw cops just stop cars and ask for money for no reason..or threaten to give them a ticket. Anything not nailed outside people's homes and apartments was stolen, including cable tv, water, pets, whatever. Dogs were stolen and their owners paid ransom money to get them returned. Keep your purebred animals far from Mexico, or they WILL be stolen. In Puerto Vallarta, which I'd visited before meeting my ex-husband, had lots of pickpockets and thieves. Men were following me, eying my camera, so I jumped in a taxi and left. Kids will sell you Chicklets gum and others pick your pockets as you're distracted.. watch out going up into the mountains alone in a car. Hide jewelry, money, look poor. We were followed by police in a pickup truck, but having been warned, we looked poor so they left us alone. Twenty plus years later, I was reading Mexican newspapers on the web, and there was my ex-husband, busted for scamming/living off of women in Isla Mujeres. The police say he's a known drunk and womanizer, preying on women with his charm, good looks, offering to take them on snorkeling or sightseeing tours. I love Mexico, the good people are kind and hospitable, family-oriented and hard-working. The bad are evil to the core. Don't drive after dark, or you set yourself up to be robbed and/or killed (I saw news if this when there) by banditos. It's like the "wild west", in my opinion. Life doesn't mean anything, you can't trust police and emergency medical help is useless. I felt safe in the tourist areas, but made a point not to put myself in harms way. A woman was killed )after partying all night with two Mexican men on the beach) in a place I'd loved to go snorkeling, not far from the Blue Parrot bar, a remote part of beach back then. Most deaths don't even make the news. They don't want to scare away tourists, as their economy depends on them. I loved the nature and good people of this beautiful country, but don't go there anymore. If you go, be vigilant and stick to common tourist areas. Accept no drinks that you haven't ordered and seen made with your own wyes. Lock your room at night. Don't leave anything of value on the beach. If you do, they will be stolen, especially passports and cameras. I've seen the victims frantically look for their stuff.A new passport means a bus trip to Merida, to their US Consulate. Oh, one other thing..the US Consulate was no help at all to me in time of emergency. Uselrss. And, they don't interfere in the enforcement of laws of Mexico, I was told this by the consulate worker herself. So, you're pretty much on your own.