Cancun, Q.R. — Five males arrested in Cancun are said to be related to a dangerous, violent criminal cell. On Monday, the Attorney General of the State, Oscar Montes de Oca, held a press conference announcing the five arrests.
He said that the subjects detained by municipal police are believed linked to a dangerous and violent criminal cell. He explained that they were taken into police custody after a failed attempt to steal a motorcycle from the Rincón del Prado residential area of Cancun.
Once in custody, police learned they were part of a criminal cell. During the press conference, Fernando Mora Guillén, the Secretary of Public Security and Lucio Hernández Gutiérrez, head of State Public Security, accompanied Montes de Oca in the announcement.
They reported that those arrested were four adults and one minor. They remain jailed after an investigation lead authorities to determine they are part of at least seven recent murders in Cancun that took place in April and May, and are also believed involved the shooting of two bars along Kabah Avenue.
They are alleged responsible for two murders on April 6, the April 23 murder of a woman, the April 28 murder of a man in a used car lot, the May 9 shooting death of a man, the May 15 death of a man and the May 24 shooting death of a male.
In their press conference, authorities revealed that the group are dedicated to the sale of narcotics, extortion, robberies and shark loans, offering money to small businesses and committing acts of violence when the business owners fail to pay.
“This criminal cell is part of one of the main criminal structures that generates violence in the state and has traditionally been dedicated to the sale of drugs and extortion, however, they have diversified their illicit activities to include robbery and the scheme known as shark loans, which consists of money loans to merchants and small businessmen with a high interest yield, and if they are not paid, the victims are violently assaulted,” Montes de Oca detailed.
