Northern Ontarians in Mexico unfazed by cartel arrest: ‘We’re safe’

Timmins couple in Riviera Maya, Mexico, far from cartel violence say they're safe. Another in Mazatlán notes calm but military patrols. Lydia Chubak reports.

Sue and Jason Mason from Timmins, Ont., are currently enjoying 30-degree Celsius weather in the Riveria Maya. They’re in Akumal – about a 90-minute drive from Cancun and hundreds of kilometres away from the violent incidents that have taken place in Puerto Vallarta. But when the rest of the world learned about the death of Mexico’s most wanted man – a notorious cartel leader – Mason’s family expressed concern.

“We had messages upon messages yesterday and family and friends reaching out to make sure we’re okay,” said Sue.

“We’ve been tagged in a lot of the alerts. So, the first thing we did was we registered with the Government of Canada for Canadians Abroad, so that they know we’re here to if something happens.”

The Masons said they also met with their Air Canada representative in the resort’s lobby.

“She reassured us this is a norm for down here and that we are perfectly safe, especially if you stay on resort,” said Jason.

“We did have an adventure booked for today, but we decided to delay that a couple days.”

Another Timmins couple is vacationing in Mazatlán.

“We’re four hours north of Puerto Vallarta,” said Art Pultz.

“I have a friend who goes there every year, and I was talking to him by Facebook yesterday, and he says he’s never seen anything like in 20 years he’s been going there and yeah, the other side of that coin is I think that a little bit of it is hype in the media.”

Pultz said everything is normal and calm where he is.

“The one thing I did notice in the last couple of days leading up to the events in Puerto Vallarta is that there was an increase, in my mind, an increased presence of military and police on the streets.”

“They patrol with basically F150s and 50 caliber machine guns mounted on the back, which is kind of weird for a Canadian to see on the streets,” he added.

The Government of Canada provides advice to travelers on its website travel.gc.ca and advises travellers to add their names to the Registration of Canadians Abroad.

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