MEXICO: Immigration At Cancun Airport Detain Tourist For 14 Hours, Steal Jewerly From Her Luggage

Staff of the National Institute of Migration (INM) attached to the International Airport of Cancun (AIC) will be denounced before the National Commission of Human Rights for alleged mistreatment and humiliation against an Argentine woman, who was denied access to the country in an irregular procedure.

In less than a week, a woman from Argentina was found dead inside her home in Playa del Carmen, and this time another one was allegedly mistreated and humiliated by personnel of the National Institute of Migration (INM) in the International Airport of Cancun.

The woman alleges agents retained her more than 14 hours in the facilities of the air terminal and made her sleep on a mattress on the wet floor.

On April 26, Gabriela Lourdes Orza arrived to Cancun on a flight from Buenos Aires and once on Mexican soil the authorities denied her access, since, according to the migration staff, the woman did not meet requirements to enter the country.

During this process the foreign visitor received mistreatment, humiliation and insults from immigration agents, according to her partner, Alejandro Guerrero Flores, who is a recognized doctor in Merida, Yucatan.

Among the reasons that Orza said that INM cited for denying her entry, was that she had only $90 USD in cash and she had stated that she would stay three months in Mexico.

Immigration agents said that the amount was not consistent with her stay in the country and ignored the explanations of the foreign tourist, who said she was meeting up with her boyfriend, who lives in Cancun, and that he would cover her expenses during the time that she remained in Mexico.

Despite the explanations that Gabriela Lourdes Orza gave, she was allegedly mistreated by INM staff, attached to the air terminal.

The woman arrived in Cancun early on April 27 at 12:30 a.m. but was detained by immigration agents for alleged irregularities in her procedure. She indicated that an immigration agent named Erick Rivera began to interrogate her.

The Argentine citizen has been coming to the country since 2011, but due to some problems her previous income did not appear in the system.

They asked her why she arrived with that small amount of money, also wanted her to tell them the exact dates of her travels six years ago, why she didn’t know the hotel where she was going to stay, and did not allow her to make calls to friends or family, to clarify the situation, commented Alejandro Guerrero, who remained outside the migration offices in terminal 2 of the AIC.

During more than 14 hours that Gabriela was detained by Immigration, an official offered her a mat on the wet floor to sleep, and they opened without her authorization her luggage, where they removed silver jewelry and jewels with a value of $20 thousand pesos MXN, which she did not realize until she was returned to her country.

Although the boyfriend remained the whole time outside the immigration office, the officials didn’t allow him to explain nor talk with his girlfriend. This agent, Erick Rivera, was pointed out by his own companions as overreacting at any situation and driving himself crazy, said Alejandro Guerrero.

After several hours, the Orza was returned to her home country, which Gabriela said was the worst experience of her life and a bad impression of the country she had visited so many times and had opened its doors.

Gabriela is psychologically too damaged, she does not want to know anything about Cancun, and she will speak at the consulates to make known the treatment she received in Mexico, she is annoyed at what she was robbed of, but she is also very afraid to return.

I believe that what she experienced is the worst that a destination like Cancun can do, because the recent news about so many negative things, as to add this problem to the lack of proper attention of immigration personnel” said the boyfriend.