Avery Haines, Canadian CTV News W-5 investigative correspondent published a shocking interview with an alleged Mexican drug boss on Friday March 29th.
Are Canadian tourists in the Mayan Riviera at risk of getting caught in cartel cross fire? Investigative reporter Avery Haines gets rare access to a Mexican drug boss, for a far-reaching and disturbing interview that airs as part of her W5 documentary, “The Narco Riviera” (watch below).
“Manuel” agreed to meet with W5 to talk about the cartel turf war that has led to a record number of murders in a Canadian tourist mecca. Warning: details may be disturbing.
PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO — I’ve never before wondered whether asking the wrong question in an interview could get me, and my crew, killed.
It was an irrational fear, but we’d entered an alternate reality. Sitting across from me, in a narco safehouse in Playa Del Carmen: the head of the Mayan Riviera drug trade for the Sinaloa cartel, responsible for both feeding the high tourist demand, and for transporting some 300 kilograms of cocaine a month up to the U.S. border.
We secured the rare interview as part of our investigation into the unprecedented wave of violence that has washed over the much-loved Canadian hotspots of Playa Del Carmen and Cancún.
Even getting to the safehouse was an ordeal. Producer Stephen Grant, cameraman Jerry Vienneau and I were told to park at a coffee shop and wait. After some time, a car pulled up beside us and the man who brokered the interview gestured to follow him.
Led up and down streets and through neighbourhoods in Playa Del Carmen, we finally stopped at a nondescript low-rise apartment building. We were told to set up our equipment in one of the unoccupied units on the top floor and then go into the bedroom and shut the door.
None of us knew quite what to expect. We were eventually summoned by a knock on the bedroom door. The first thing I noticed were the weapons and the masks. The group was heavily armed, and wearing balaclavas.
We weren’t allowed to see their faces or know their real names so we call the narco boss “Manuel.”
