Tulum's municipal government dismissed Óscar Alberto Tapia Gómez as director of the Executive Police on Thursday, after a group of local fishermen denounced an illegal checkpoint, threats, and intimidation along the coastal zone in an incident recorded on video that circulated on social media.
The decision was announced in a press conference by the Secretary of Public Security and Citizen Protection, Edgar Aguilar Rico, alongside Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo. Aguilar Rico said the dismissal was issued for abuse of authority, and that the case will be reviewed by the Internal Affairs Unit and the Council of Honor and Justice.
The episode has placed Tulum's municipal police under public scrutiny at a moment when the administration has been promoting security indicators as one of its main achievements, and it raises immediate questions about how preventive operations are conducted in the coastal area where fishermen, residents, and tourists move daily.
What the fishermen denounced
According to the affected fishermen, the incident occurred Wednesday night, when they were returning from work along the coastal zone. They reported that police officers had set up what they described as an illegal checkpoint, and that they were detained, threatened, and physically mistreated by uniformed personnel.
One of the fishermen recorded the encounter. The video, in which direct threats and intimidating language can be heard, spread quickly on social media and triggered public demand for an official response from municipal authorities.
For more than a day, residents and workers from the maritime sector waited for a position from city hall. The official statement came Thursday, when the Secretariat confirmed that an administrative investigation had been opened and that the officer leading the operation would be removed.
The municipal response and the dismissal of the director of the Executive Police
In his appearance, Aguilar Rico said the operation in the coastal zone was part of what the municipal government calls "mobile preventive checkpoints," temporary filters that, according to the Secretariat, are deployed daily at different points of Tulum as part of its security strategy.
The secretary acknowledged that the conduct of the then-director of the Executive Police during the operation was not appropriate. "Sincerely, those were not the words, nor the manner, nor the way in which he addressed these people. I will take action and the corresponding measures will be carried out within the Council of Honor," he said in his initial remarks.
Hours later, Aguilar Rico confirmed that Óscar Alberto Tapia Gómez had been formally removed from his position. "The message is clear and concise: we will not tolerate any abuse of authority by our officers," he stated.
Mayor Diego Castañón Trejo reinforced the position from city hall. "In our government, the police are strictly here to protect and respect our people, not to harass them," he said.
Video evidence, citizen rights, and Internal Affairs
Aguilar Rico said the preventive checkpoints operate with video surveillance cameras, and that the reported events were recorded "from beginning to end." On that basis, the Secretariat invited the affected fishermen and any other citizen with evidence to file a formal complaint before the Internal Affairs Unit so that the investigation can move forward.
The secretary also addressed the broader question of citizens recording police actions, an issue that has surfaced repeatedly in Quintana Roo. He stated that residents have the right to record officers during interventions, and that officers are obligated to document their own actions.
All my officers have the obligation to respect citizens and their guarantees. We have no problem with people recording us. On the contrary, it is good to have both versions and make correct decisions.
The official statement issued by the Secretariat referred to the video as one in which members of the institution are accused of allegedly extorting tourists, and confirmed that the head of the agency instructed Internal Affairs to open an administrative investigation and apply sanctions if warranted.
Security indicators and the political weight of the case
During the same conference, Aguilar Rico defended the overall results of the municipal security strategy. He said intentional homicides and high-impact crimes have dropped by 74 percent, and that Tulum is registering some of its best perception-of-security indicators on record. Those figures, presented by the Secretariat, were not independently verified in the statements provided.
The contradiction between that institutional message and the conduct denounced by the fishermen is precisely what gave the case its weight. The municipal administration has built much of its public communication around the idea that Tulum is living its best moment in matters of security, and a viral video showing intimidation by a police commander cuts directly against that narrative.
By moving quickly to dismiss the director of the Executive Police, the Secretariat sought to contain the political damage and reaffirm the message that abuses will not be tolerated, regardless of rank.
What happens next in the investigation against the former director of the Executive Police
The case now moves to two parallel tracks. The Internal Affairs Unit will conduct the administrative inquiry into the actions of Óscar Alberto Tapia Gómez and any other officer involved in the coastal checkpoint. The Council of Honor and Justice, the body authorized to rule on conduct within the corporation, will review the case and define the formal sanctions that apply.
Aguilar Rico called on the fishermen and any other affected citizen to appear before the investigating body and file their complaint, and reiterated that the institution will act on the evidence captured by the surveillance cameras and the video recorded by the fishermen.
For the residents and workers of the coastal zone, the open question is whether the dismissal will be followed by structural changes in how preventive checkpoints are deployed, supervised, and audited, or whether the response will be limited to the removal of a single commander.
Do you think the dismissal of the director of the Executive Police is enough, or does Tulum need deeper reforms in how its police operate in the coastal zone? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes .