Business owners, merchants, and foreign tourists have accused Tulum authorities of extortion, saying demands for money from inspectors and traffic officers are choking the local economy and damaging the destination's international image.
The complaints matter because they shift the extortion problem away from organized crime and toward the government itself. Employers and visitors now describe public officials as the main source of pressure on businesses in a destination already strained by falling tourism and recurring sargassum.
Business Leaders Say Extortion in Tulum Now Comes From Authorities
Representatives of the business sector said alleged extortion has become one of the most serious problems facing Tulum, alongside the sargassum crisis affecting the coastline. According to their accounts, municipal inspectors and verifiers make frequent visits to hotels, restaurants, and small businesses, searching for irregularities that later turn into requests for money in exchange for avoiding sanctions.
Fear of retaliation keeps most of those affected from filing formal complaints, the business representatives said.
"They are practically killing Tulum. The cobro de piso now has to be paid to the authorities," one business leader said, referring to the protection payments historically associated with criminal groups.
The claim reflects a broader national concern. The employers' confederation Coparmex has warned that roughly five of every ten Mexican business owners report having been victims of extortion or protection payment demands, a figure that has pushed the issue to the top of the private sector's security agenda.
British Tourists Describe a 21,000 Peso Payment at a Traffic Stop
Among the cases documented in the complaints is that of a British couple, Steve and Claudia, who said they were extorted during their vacation. After drinking two beers, they were stopped at a traffic checkpoint and given a breathalyzer test, according to their account.
The couple maintains the result did not exceed the limit allowed under Tulum's traffic regulations. Even so, they said, officers told them they would remain in custody unless they paid 21,000 pesos, roughly 1,100 dollars. They said they made the payment by electronic transfer and never received an official receipt.
Both said they would not return to the destination and would not recommend it to anyone.
For a tourism economy built largely on international word of mouth, testimony of that kind carries a cost that outlasts the payment itself. Travelers who describe checkpoint payments on social media and review platforms reach audiences that no promotional campaign can easily win back.
Two Officials Removed as Investigations Advance
Tulum Mayor Diego Castañón has acknowledged accusations of extortion committed by public servants. During a press conference on June 23, he announced that two officials would be separated from their positions as part of the investigations, and said his administration would also act in the traffic department to combat these practices.
The removals followed citizen complaints against inspectors in the municipal oversight office, according to local press reports.
A Pattern of Similar Complaints
The couple's account echoes other recent cases. In February, the municipal public security office dismissed a traffic officer after a video circulated on social media showing him receiving money from a driver he had stopped. Earlier this year, American tourists said police at a checkpoint pressured them to pay through a card terminal after they presented a digital driver's license instead of a physical one.
National press coverage has also documented steep increases in municipal fees and permit costs that business owners describe as arbitrary, along with a sharp decline in visits to the Tulum archaeological zone, which some outlets have placed at more than 70 percent compared with previous years.
Business Owners Demand Controls and Transparency
Business representatives are asking for tighter controls on inspections, transparency in verification procedures, and measures to restore the confidence of investors, merchants, and both domestic and international visitors.
The complaints land at a difficult moment. Falling visitor numbers, sargassum on the beaches, and corruption accusations have combined into one of the toughest stretches Tulum has faced since it became one of the most recognized destinations of the Mexican Caribbean.
What happens next depends on whether the announced investigations produce sanctions beyond the two removals already confirmed, and whether they reach the traffic department as the mayor promised. Business owners say confidence will not return until inspections stop functioning as a source of informal income.
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