The state of Quintana Roo will have the first Tourist Security Battalion of its kind, made up of elements of the National Guard. The announcement was made by governor Carlos Joaquín who said that the project of the battalion is between the state and federal government to fight crime in Quintana Roo.

Joaquin said that as of December 1, a parcel of land will be made available to the federal government for the creation of a new National Guard Tourist Security Battalion.

The battalion will host 1,445 elements whose task will be security in the north (Cancun, Riviera Maya) of Quintana Roo. The announcement came after a meeting between Joaquin and President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was in Cancun Wednesday.

Luis Cresencio Sandoval, the head of the Secretariat of National Defense of Mexico, said that this new unit, which will be a first for the state, will reinforce the security strategy for the protection of Quintana Roo residents and tourists. He said their priority will be in serving the municipalities of Benito Juárez (Cancun), Solidaridad (Playa del Carmen) and Tulum.

“This battalion will provide security to the entire tourist area and, as 2022 progresses, the tools for the project and the equipment required to attend to this new mission will be provided.

“The model that we would use here for the first time, with the National Guard in its specialty in the tourist area, will be replicated in other areas of the Mexican Republic in the main tourist sites,” said the Secretary of Defense.