Yucatan beaches in Mexico serve as a picturesque backdrop to the grim reality of kidnappings, gun violence, and other crimes, with U.S. officials cautioning American tourists to be vigilant as they step foot on the sand.
A Utah father who was allegedly kidnapped and attacked with a machete while visiting Cancun with his wife on Valentine’s Day is the subject of an inquiry, according to the attorney general of Mexico’s Quintana Roo state, which borders the Pacific Ocean.
Before his flight home from Cancun, Dustan Jackson, a 36-year-old contractor from Salt Lake City, told Fox News Digital that he wanted to pick up some chewing tobacco and had ordered a cab. He claimed that as a result, he spent months in and out of the hospital, had several operations, and sustained long-term nerve damage in his left arm.
Around 10 a.m. on February 12, he claimed the vehicle pulled up to a grocery store, and the driver got out to get a tin. Next: “Bam!”
AFTER AN AMERICAN DAD SAYS HE WAS LEFT FOR DEAD, A MEXICO PROSECUTOR ENTERS INTO AN INVESTIGATION IN THE CANCUN MACHETE ATTACK.
He claimed that he fell asleep and awoke after sunset with his front teeth smashed, a welt on his head, and machete wounds running the length of his left side of his body. He claims that a police officer stitched him up and transported him to the airport after the assailants stole his smartphone and credit card, after which he bled profusely for hours while searching for assistance.
The reason the police took Jackson to the airport as opposed to a hospital, according to Jackson, is unclear.
He remarked, “She bandaged me up; I don’t know why she didn’t take me to the hospital.” I’m relieved that she didn’t since some of the terrible stories I’ve heard could have trapped me there. No one knows.
A US tourist claims that after being attacked by a macete, he was kidnapped in Mexico and left for dead.
Once at the airport, he asked random people for assistance until one who could speak English called his wife on his behalf and helped arrange for him to spend the night at a hotel and take a flight back to the United States.
Police at the airport and in Cancun’s tourist area both told Fox News Digital they had no records of the incident or any encounters with Jackson, but prosecutors announced last week that an inquiry had been opened. A representative from the State Department added that the American government was aware of the accusations and ready to offer support.
According to statistics, Quintana Roo, which is home to popular tourist destinations like Cancun, Tulum, Cozumel, and Playa del Carmen, is not the most dangerous region of Mexico. Due of crime and kidnapping, the State Department advises Americans traveling to the area to “exercise greater vigilance.”
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The State Department cautions that “crime and violence may occur anywhere, at any time, including in well-known tourist locations.” “Travelers should keep a high level of situational awareness, stay away from places where illegal activity takes place, and leave potentially hazardous circumstances as soon as possible. Kidnapping has affected “lawful permanent residents” and citizens of the United States.
Travelers have been stunned by disturbing incidences in some of Mexico’s most popular holiday beaches as post-pandemic travel restrictions have eased.
Nine days after Jackson claimed to have been attacked, two men were killed and another injured in a shooting at Tulum’s waterfront Art Beach Restaurant.
No one was hurt during a cartel gunfight in Cancun last December, but guests were forced to escape an all-inclusive beachfront resort in a panic. Near the Grand Ocean Palm resorts, gunmen in PWCs approached the shore and started shooting at rival drug traffickers.
MEXICAN HOSPITAL SLAYS A CUBAN DOCTOR
The suspects, according to the police chief of Quintana Roo at the time, were disguised as soldiers.
Two additional alleged dealers were killed in a nearby firefight at the Hyatt Riviera Cancun just one month before. Authorities reported that no tourists were “seriously hurt” in the crossfire.
In addition, two women from California and Germany were killed by stray gunshots in the crossfire of a gang battle in Tulum, another vacation town in Quintana Roo, in October 2021. There were three more injured European visitors.
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sent 1,500 soldiers of the National Guard to guard the beaches in response to the violence.
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In August, the State Department released a number of travel advisories for several regions of Mexico.
Officials cautioned that violent crime, including killing, abduction, carjacking, and robbery, is pervasive and frequent in Mexico. The U.S. government’s capacity to offer emergency services to individuals in many locations is constrained.
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Six of the country’s 31 states—Sinaloa, Colima, Guerrero, Michoacan, Tamaulipas, and Zacatecas—are also advised against by recommendations. According to authorities, all of those, with the exception of Guerrero, are plagued by kidnappings.
Baja California, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Sonora, Nuevo Leon, Puebla, and San Luis Potosi are other Mexican states with a high kidnapping rate.
The Associated Press and David Unsworth both contributed to this article.
