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Taxi driver arrested for charging Canadian tourist $1000 USD between Cancun airport terminals

Cancun, Q.R. — The taxi driver accused of charging a Canadian man $1,050.00 USD to travel between terminals at the Cancun airport has been arrested. On Monday night, Eduardo “G” was located and arrested from his unit on Cancun streets on charges of extortion.

Eduardo “G” was filmed by a young Canadian man who, on Sunday night, took an airport taxi from terminal 4 to terminal 3. Once at terminal 3, the taxi driver is heard requesting $1,000.000 USD from the man for the fare.

French Canadian tourist Xavier “C” initially refused to pay the requested amount and demanded the driver call police at which time the cab driver attempted to flee with the young man’s luggage. In a bid to not loose his belongings, he hopped inside the cab and grabbed his bags, saying on video he nearly broke a leg while doing so. He also reported the cab driver charged him $1,050.00 USD for the short ride.

His credit card was charged at least $1,000.000 USD for the transfer between the Cancun terminals, and while police never arrived (because they were never called as requested by the Canadian man), airport security did make an appearance but nothing was done to assist the Canadian traveler.

“This taxi stole a thousand dollars from terminal 4 to terminal 3. While I called security, he tried to escape with my suitcase. By good luck I was able to jump into the cab to grab my bags,” he said on video.

The day after his video went viral, the Cancun airport taxi driver was located and taken into custody. He was arrested from his marked airport taxi by Cancun police around 11:00 p.m. Monday night as he continued to offer his services.

He is being charged by the State Attorney General’s Office for extortion.

On Tuesday, State Secretary Cristina Torres said the money charged to the credit card by the airport taxi driver has been reimbursed.

“What I understand is that the tourist made a complaint against the person who transported him to the terminal (…) the charge has been returned to the user,” she said.

Torres said an investigation by state and federal authorities is underway since the Cancun airport is located in an area of federal jurisdiction. She said the investigation will prevent this type of situation from occurring in the future.

Xavier “C” called the taxi fare a “scam” and said he would never return to Mexico. “I will never return to Mexico again. This is crazy,” he said in his self-filmed phone video.

Due to its size and distance between the four terminals, the Cancun International Airport offers complimentary shuttle services for travelers who need to get from one terminal to another.