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Cancun authorities call allegations of drugged water by American college students ‘exaggerated’

Isla Mujeres, Q.R. — UPDATED: Local authorities have determined the allegations of two American college students who say they were drugged in Cancun to be exaggerated. The head of the State Attorney General’s office (FGE), Raciel López Salazar, says an investigation has determined neither of the students had drugs in their system.

He is referring to allegations made by two Oklahoma students, Zara Hull and Kaylie Pitzer, both 20, during a recent vacation to Isla Mujeres (the girls reported staying at a Cancun resort where their water was allegedly spiked with fentanyl, however, they were actually staying at an Isla Mujeres hotel).

López Salazar says regarding their case “there was no drug dealing here in Quintana Roo with fentanyl.” He says the case has been exaggerated and classifies it as simple alcohol consumption.

On Tuesday, López Salazar said the toxicology tests on the girls yielded “clean” results with no trace of fentanyl or any other drug. “It is ruled out that they consumed fentanyl in their drink,” he said. According to the head of the FGE, their case was due to simple drunken intoxication.

The allegations have also captured the attention of the State Secretary of Tourism, Bernardo Cueto, who had called it a “very rare case and a very strange situation that is being investigated.”

In a recent radio interview, he said they have approached the United States Consulate to contact the families, but there is no response of any kind from the affected families. To date, no formal complaint has been filed.

“Through the consulate we requested more information from the relatives, but there was no response, there was no interest or intention from the relatives to give us more details of what happened.

“I have to tell you in no uncertain terms it seems very strange to me, a very strange situation because if someone’s health is affected in some establishment, the first thing you do is report the establishment where you were possibly or supposedly poisoned.

“There is no formal complaint, there is no indication of where it was. It seems to me very irresponsible of the media to broadcast or replicate a story without doing investigative journalism. If you are going to replicate a story where a poisoning is being reported in a tourist destination, let’s investigate where it was,” he said.

“That is all we have on the matter. We have nothing more. Unfortunately it is a story that was used to affect the image of a destination,” he said adding that “without a doubt any case, like the one that is presumed to have happened in the destination, should be investigated, reported and prosecuted to punish the guilty parties, but in this case it is not known what happened, since there is no formal complaint.”

Hull and Pitzer claimed their water at a Cancun hotel swim up bar was spiked with fentanyl which caused them to lose consciousness and experience stomach convulsions that resulted in one being hospitalized.

The local FGE began an investigation into the allegations, discovering the girls were not staying in Cancun as reported, but at an Isla Mujeres hotel. According to Salazar, their investigation also showed the girl’s drug tests came back clean.

The case has been classified as a likely drunken night and the girls experienced symptoms of alcohol intoxication.

The Caribbean Business Coordinating Council of Quintana Roo has also become involved, saying they will remain attentive to any follow-up, however, they are suggesting that local establishments monitor the customers they serve.

President of the Caribbean Business Coordinating Council, Eduardo Martínez González, says hotels, restaurants and bars have been asked to monitor their guests to prevent consumers from overindulging in alcoholic beverages, which later, they could be held liable for.

UPDATE: Since the allegations, the surveillance video from the Isla Mujeres hotel pool where the girls were staying has been released. Their surveillance cameras from the Castaway Pool Bar show the group of friends allegedly drinking tequila shots and tropical cocktails for several hours before they leave the pool.

The pool area cameras show one of the friends stagger out of the water toward an open door to a room from where a wheelchair is brought out for her to sit in as she’s returned to her room. The hotel surveillance also shows the group of friends staggering in the water and at one point, hugging a concrete post to stay upright.

Local authorities have said drug tests administered at the Cancun hospital came back clean for both, not only for fentanyl, but for any drugs. According to the FGE, their allegations of being drugged are an “exaggerated” case of alcohol intoxication.