SMALL BUSINESS WINS MILLIONS IN GOVERNMENT SECURITY CONTRACTS

In March 2023, Fonatur, under the leadership of Javier May, put out a tender for surveillance services for the central offices of the Tren Maya company and its business units. The contract, worth 88 million pesos, was awarded to the only consortium that bid. This consortium included Grupo de Seguridad Privada Pryse from Mexico, Protección Resguardo y Servicios Empresariales, and Servicios Integrales Valbón.

This move was surprising given President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's previous statement that all his priority infrastructure projects would be guarded by federal and military police. While the contract's value was not excessively high, it was notable that the security of one of AMLO's priority projects was entrusted to a company with allegations of irregularities. Grupo de Seguridad Privada Pryse de México SA de CV has been implicated in alleged document forgery, simulated competition to secure contracts, and non-payment of workers.

The situation becomes more peculiar considering the company, which secured only two contracts under the government of Enrique Peña Nieto worth less than one million pesos, was awarded a contract worth over 600 million pesos in 2022 by IMSS. This contract was to oversee a significant portion of its medical, administrative units and vacation centers. The company's own employees claimed that the firm did not have the capacity to fulfill such a large contract.

Despite these allegations, primarily from its own employees, Grupo de Seguridad Privada Pryse de México, linked to businessman Sandalio Sainz de la Maza, has reached new heights this year. The company has secured 15 public sector contracts, representing income of almost 2,200 million pesos. The largest contract to date is with IMSS-Bienestar, led by Alejandro Calderón Alipi. The firm will be paid over 915 million pesos in the 2024 fiscal year for subcontracted security services at hospitals and medical units in the states of Sonora, Baja California, Zacatecas, Sinaloa and Baja California Sur.

Another significant contract was awarded by IMSS, led by Zoé Robledo, for subcontracted security in decentralized administrative operation bodies, High Specialty Medical Units, and vacation centers. This contract, similar to the one awarded in 2022, is worth 270 million pesos and runs from January to December of this year.

Grupo de Seguridad Privada Pryse also has contracts with ISSSTE, Profeco and SAT. This is unusual given the company's alleged tax issues and problems paying its employees' wages. It is even more surprising that the company, which has had difficulty validating its surveillance service license, has contracts with the administrations of the National Port System, where marines are typically responsible for security.