Quintana Roo Taxi Turmoil Threatens Tourism Flop

Quintana Roo, a popular tourist destination, is facing a significant problem with its taxi services. Taxi driver unions and concessionaires have become a source of fear for both domestic and international tourists. These drivers, often likened to highway pirates, have been causing distress for over a decade in popular locations such as Cancún and Playa del Carmen.

The main culprits are drivers from the “Andrés Quintana Roo” Taxi Union (Cancún), the “Lázaro Cárdenas del Río” Taxi Union (Playa del Carmen), the Puerto Morelos “César Martín Moreno” Taxi Union, and drivers with federal concessions from the Cancun International Airport. These drivers, armed with federal injunctions, are known for their abuses, arbitrariness, and thefts.

In addition to causing fear due to potential violence, these drivers are also responsible for a significant number of traffic accidents in Cancún. In 2023, there were 743 reported traffic accidents in the municipality of Benito Juárez, with 455 involving taxi drivers. The following year, out of 362 traffic accidents, taxis were involved in 232.

Adding to the issue is a group of fraudulent taxi drivers who pose as employees of ‘all-inclusive’ hotels and luxury resorts. These drivers charge exorbitant fees for their services, often between 200 to 300 dollars or three thousand to five thousand Mexican pesos. They claim that tourists can get a refund at their chosen hotel reception, but this turns out to be a scam with no one taking responsibility for the refund.

Social media has highlighted the severity of the issue, with reports of taxi drivers assaulting Uber drivers outside resorts and attacking app vehicles with pipes and baseball bats outside the airport. These drivers claim exclusive rights to the airport, creating an atmosphere of anarchy in the transportation sector of this otherwise idyllic destination.

The situation reached a peak in November, when a raid on the offices of the “Andrés Quintana Roo” Taxi Union uncovered a torture room and evidence of at least three homicides. This led to the arrest of three union executives and power struggles within the organization.

Cancun currently ranks 13th among the most dangerous cities according to a report from the World Population Review organization of the UN. Hotel entrepreneurs argue that this negative image is partly due to the high number of homicides in Quintana Roo in 2024 (714), with nearly half occurring in Cancún (351). Narcotrafficking also contributes to this poor perception, and the behavior of taxi drivers only exacerbates the issue.

In response, the state government has held press conferences to assure the public that no one is above the law. In early March, new taxi booths began being built in Terminals 2 and 4 of Cancún International Airport to make it clear to tourists which taxi drivers are authorized. However, scammers continue to operate inside the airport, with the authorities’ complete permission.

In August 2024, taxi drivers obtained an injunction allowing them to pick up and drop off passengers at any Cancún airport terminal; however, unions and federal concessionaires only allow them to drop off passengers, not pick up passengers. Those who have dared to try to pick up tourists have been beaten or had their vehicles damaged.

Cancun Taxi Drivers and Taxi Drivers: Lawbreakers?

Daniel Enrique is around 22 years old. In the mornings, he does community service at the State Attorney General’s Office and in the afternoons, he works as a Mazda driver who operates like Uber, while he writes his thesis and graduates as a lawyer.

The unbearable traffic on a Friday weekend forces us to spend over an hour stuck on Tulum Avenue. A very long avenue that runs through the entire municipality of Benito Juárez, but with no ocean view. Daniel tells me that the statements issued by the Attorney General’s Office regarding the arrest of taxi drivers who beat tourists and those who use force “are few and far between” compared to the reality of everyday life.

The “Andrés Quintana Roo” Taxi Drivers’ Union, founded in 1978, manages nearly 20,000 taxi units in the municipality of Benito Juárez (Cancún’s constitutional name). Since its inception, its leadership has wielded political control and has supported politicians from the PRD, PRI, and Morena parties to “help” them win elections. In return, it demands “quotas” of council seats and even local deputies from its members. The same applies to the unions in Playa del Carmen (Solidaridad municipality) and Tulum.

“Last year we had several reports of rape at the hands of taxi drivers. Yes, all from the ‘Andrés Quintana Roo’ union. More than five; they’re assholes who are on the prowl in the hotel zone, in nightclubs, or in downtown bars; of girls who fall asleep or are very drunk; it’s Cancún […]. The taxi drivers’ actions are unacceptable.”

Daniel points out that taxi drivers extort tourists, steal cell phones and cameras from foreigners, and even overcharge them: “They know the likelihood of being reported is minimal.” The most common abuse is directed at drunk foreigners and Mexicans, who are charged exorbitant fares to take them to their hotels. Daniel says that the threat of calling the police always has a positive effect on the extortion scheme.

“They don’t give a damn. In their spare time, they laugh at taxi stands when they recognize themselves in videos uploaded to TikTok and Facebook: ‘Look at this guy, they already burned him on Facebook.'”

Links between aggressive taxi drivers and drug dealing

According to the State Attorney General’s Office, in 2024, ten taxi drivers from Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Puerto Morelos were officially remanded in custody for assaulting tourists, intimidating or savagely assaulting an Uber vehicle, and assaulting its driver.

The most striking case was that of three members of the “Cesar Martin Rosado” Taxi Drivers’ Union in Puerto Morelos, a union less than a decade old. Until 2015, Puerto Morelos was a community belonging to Benito Juárez (Cancún). The taxi drivers intimidated a tourist from the United States into canceling the Uber ride he requested because “it’s illegal.” Furthermore, they threatened him that if he insisted on taking another Uber ride, he would be “arrested by the police.” In the same level of intimidation, they demanded the driver cancel the ride and not even show up.

The Uber driver barely manages to say, “The customer can cancel my ride… I’ve already wasted so much gas.” The three taxi drivers intimidate the tourist, who, bewildered, utters expletives in English and walks aimlessly away.

The video, which went viral in a dozen media outlets, prompted Governor Mara Lezama Espinosa to hold a press conference last December, where she announced that the three Puerto Morelos taxi drivers had been arrested and that the Mobility Institute would revoke their driver’s licenses “for life,” so they would never drive a taxi again, she said, in Quintana Roo. The three taxi drivers were remanded in custody for two years, are still on trial, and worse, they were charged with drug dealing.

“What they’re doing is a crime; they’re attacking the goose that lays the golden eggs. To the extent that you intimidate a tourist and they go and speak out in their place of origin… you’re harming a chambermaid, a hotel gardener, a cook, and the artisans who make hammocks and wood-carved works of art,” Governor Mara Lezama explained.

The governor’s emotional and heated speech contrasts with the actions of the Mobility Institute. They made a “verbal agreement” with the Andrés Quintana Roo Taxi Drivers’ Union to “harass” Uber drivers, according to taxi drivers. White taxi drivers with green stripes and an economic number—the union’s distinctive symbol—can carry passengers in the back seat; Uber drivers cannot.

“Move to the front seat. Help me avoid a fine, let’s avoid getting stopped by the Traffic Department,” Uber drivers often ask.

Airport harassment by licensed taxi drivers

Cancún International Airport, managed by Grupo Aeropuerto del Sureste (ASUR), receives 500 flights per day, 40 from Europe and more than 100 from the United States; the rest originate from South America and domestic destinations. Terminal 1 is primarily used by private flights, serving business elites and politicians, who are unlikely to take a taxi. However, Terminals 2, 3, and 4 are hotbeds of harassment by taxi drivers licensed by the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transportation (SCT).

“Private taxi?”, “Safe taxi to your hotel door,” “No ADO buses,” “Buses are full,” “We’ll give you the best price in the Riviera Maya” are common phrases from transportation vendors, laced with lies. Here, complaints are constant: an entire family traveling from Cancún to a resort in Puerto Morelos, a 20-kilometer trip, will have to pay between two and three thousand pesos if they didn’t book “transportation” through the hotel.

From the airport to Tulum—128 kilometers—that distance will double or triple, so the best option will always be to book transportation well in advance, rent a car, or use passenger buses.

A network of scammers posing as resort concessionaires operates in Terminals 2 and 4, offering to take tourists in private taxis, according to several cases reported on social media (especially TikTok). Their modus operandi is basic and absurd, yet they surprise dozens of tourists. They often claim that the hotel’s official shuttle has broken down and that the guest will have to pay a $200 “guarantee” for a private taxi. They even pretend to call the reception desk of the hotel where the guest booked, connecting them with a supposed receptionist (an accomplice in the scam) and telling them that they will issue a refund voucher upon arrival at the hotel.

The government is now aware of this numerous cases and injunctions filed by several airport transportation concessionaires and had to set up a “special meeting” last January with representatives from ASUR, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Communications and Communications (SCT), and the Ministry of Public Security to address the matter.