Cancun, Q.R. — Several more taxi drivers from the Andrés Quintana Roo Union were arrested in the hotel zone over the weekend for assaulting another Uber driver. The Municipal Department of Public Safety and Transit arrested five people on Kukulcán Boulevard for their alleged participation in an altercation resulting in the disturbance of public order.
Those arrested included four Cancun taxi drivers and one female Uber driver identified as Juan Carlos “N”, Yukio Alfredo “N”, Arsenio “N”, Eyner “N” and Luz Elena “N”. Their vehicles were also seized from the public roadway.
José Pablo Mathey Cruz, the Secretary of Public Security, said they will continue to ensure public order and that on the issue of transportation, “they will arrest those who attack other citizens and they will be brought before the Civic Judge.”
He also said that they will request the Mobility Institute of the State of Quintana Roo (Imoveqroo) cancel transportation concessions to those who commit assaults against other drivers.
Another group of Cancun taxi drivers were arrested after again, intercepting an Uber driver in the Cancun Hotel Zone. The arrests were made after a citizen report of a “chase”. Police received the report Sunday afternoon.
The taxi drivers were reportedly chasing an Uber that had left the Cancun airport. In this latest incident, four Cancun taxi drivers and one Uber driver were detained, however, Agueda Esperilla, an Uber partner, said the arrests are pointless since the taxi drivers are immediately released.
Last week, Cancun taxi drivers intercepted two families of tourists. One was a family from Russia who was chased in their Uber from a shopping mall. The second was a national Mexican family of tourists who were intercepted outside their hotel while waiting for an Uber.
In both instances, the Cancun taxi drivers demanded the tourists ride with them.
On Sunday, groups of citizens took to various social media platforms encouraging people to boycott the use of Cancun taxis due to their ongoing aggression against other drivers.
In October of 2022, Cancun taxi drivers were accused of intimidating city bus drivers with threats to stop offering their services after 10:00 p.m. so locals would be forced to hire them instead of using less expensive city public transport. In that particular case, the city stepped in.
