3 ms·

You can't operate a network of ATM skimmers across this large an area without the police in your pocket. They were probably just using cheap, mass-produced skim

by exelius 11y ago

You can't operate a network of ATM skimmers across this large an area without the police in your pocket. They were probably just using cheap, mass-produced skimmer tech from China; doing much more just costs more and makes it more complex. Besides, why should they care? That area of Mexico is incredibly violent; nobody would dare fuck with the cartels' money because they kill for far less than that. Krebs had better watch his back on this one; the cartels have a long history of murdering journalists who expose their activities.

lizzard 11y ago
That area of Mexico being the Yucatan coast, it's not known for recent incredible violence or cartel activity. It's pretty quiet since the country and region are pushing the Maya Rivera as a safe tourist destination.
- exelius 11y ago
  Quintana Roo is also where drugs come in and out of Mexico from the Caribbean and narco-states like Venezuela (they travel over water into Mexico where they are shipped over land along established trafficking routes to the US). The tourist areas stay pretty quiet because the cartels own most of the resorts so it would just be bad business. But Cancun (the town a mile inland, not the tourist area on the water) is a very violent place where a number of mayors, reporters and even a Mexican army general leading anti-trafficking efforts have been murdered in the last 5 years. It's only quiet because both the cartels and the government have a vested interest in keeping the violence out of the media (they have intimidated and killed journalists to keep them from reporting on cartel violence in the area). But make no mistake, the cartels own the area and I wouldn't go sticking my nose in anything illegal, even as a reporter. The police are more likely to work for the cartels than they are the government.

3 ms·

You can't operate a network of ATM skimmers across this large an area without the police in your pocket. They were probably just using cheap, mass-produced skim

by exelius 11y ago

lizzard 11y ago
That area of Mexico being the Yucatan coast, it's not known for recent incredible violence or cartel activity. It's pretty quiet since the country and region are pushing the Maya Rivera as a safe tourist destination.
- exelius 11y ago
  Quintana Roo is also where drugs come in and out of Mexico from the Caribbean and narco-states like Venezuela (they travel over water into Mexico where they are shipped over land along established trafficking routes to the US). The tourist areas stay pretty quiet because the cartels own most of the resorts so it would just be bad business. But Cancun (the town a mile inland, not the tourist area on the water) is a very violent place where a number of mayors, reporters and even a Mexican army general leading anti-trafficking efforts have been murdered in the last 5 years. It's only quiet because both the cartels and the government have a vested interest in keeping the violence out of the media (they have intimidated and killed journalists to keep them from reporting on cartel violence in the area). But make no mistake, the cartels own the area and I wouldn't go sticking my nose in anything illegal, even as a reporter. The police are more likely to work for the cartels than they are the government.