Foreign Office warning on Cancun ‘police’

The government is warning about bogus police officers issuing on-the-spot fines to tourists in Mexico. The practice is most common in Cancun where, typically, motorists in rental cars are stopped and threatened with imprisonment by the imposters if a fine is not immediately paid, although no apparent crime has been committed. A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: “The problem has escalated. We have made the warning on the travel advice section of our website more prominent because of the high number of tourists who have been recently targeted.” The FO advises people to ask for identification if they are stopped and, if possible to make a note of the officer’s name, badge number and patrol number. More information is available at www.fco.gov.uk The US government has also warned its citizens of the situation. A state department official said: “The deterioration in recent weeks of local law enforcement in Cancun is caused by a persistent shortage of municipal funds to pay for police and public services.”