Crime, Carnage and Cancun Stacey Dooley Investigates

This programme contains some strong language.

Every year millions of young Brits head abroad to party. So I'm

travelling to some of our most notorious holiday destinations to

find out what really happens when the sun goes down. MAN SHOUTS.

It's quite deep, actually. There's quite a lot of blood.

Tonight I'm in Mexico. Where every spring, two million revellers flock

to the resort of Cancun. To party. To drink. And to pull.

Loads of fit Americans! Spring Break has become a legendary

US party season, and now thousands of Brits are getting in on the

action too. Australians, Argentinians are fit! You're on the

same wavelength, so you're doing the same sheet, man. I hope my parents

don't see this! But how much do we really know about

this party paradise? Army? Yeah, Marines. There you go,

there you go. Oh, my God, that's so strange to see on holiday.

I want to find out what life is like for the thousands who keep the

Spring Breakers out of trouble. That looks quite deep, actually

There's quite a lot of blood. How dangerous is it to holiday here

I uncover the side of Cancun the Spring Breakers don't get to see.

OK, so things are very, very different here. These are these

people's family homes! And the shocking truth behind the

tourist trade. The crime here is, like, nowhere

else in the world I've ever seen. After an 11 hour flight from the UK,

I arrive at the east coast of Mexico, Cancun.

I'm here! I've got through customs, they've let me through. But listen

to this, right. It's almost like a... "We'll let you into the

country, "but we are going to give you 1,000 rules." Don't do anything

that will prevent you from going home. Like, "publicly insulting or

disrespecting anyone." Overuse home. Like, "publicly insulting or

at the Spring Break. But I don't know how many people are going to

take this and go, "Right, let me read all the rules because I'm on

holiday. And I want to keep up to speed with all the rules and

regulations." As if! Spring Break is all about breaking

the rules. It started as a student holiday in the US, celebrating the

end of exams. It's now become a global phenomenon.

There's six of us, we are getting shit-faced every day, all day. It's

BLEEP great! I love Cancun! And Mexico, where there is a lower

drinking age, has become the number one place to party for Spring

Breakers. So I'm heading to one of Cancun's 140 resorts. Set on 13

miles of white sand and Caribbean sea.

This building here, the Grand Oasis, I'm told is the headquarters for

Spring Breaks. This is the place to be. If you're in Cancun, you're on

Spring Break. You want to show off, get booze, snog boy. -- boys. This

is the place to be and I'm en route. ALL: Spring Break!

Off we go! Every day 500 guests check in for

Spring Break here and I'm going to join them.

Loads of people piling in here to check in, go over the rules and

regulations. They are all sat there raring to go. Get this out of the

way and then go on holiday. What are you hoping for this

holiday? Chicks, booze...? Lots of booze, beach... I need to relax Too

much schoolwork and I need to chill and just drink my face off. Drink

your face off? Drink my face off. I want my face to melt.

Are we ready want my face to melt.

This is basically nice and simple. want my face to melt.

And they really are ready for us. There are 1,500 staff here. That's

one for every three guests. We are all grown-ups, so what we're here to

do is have a great time. But in the meantime take care of everything we

are going to give you. I've never experienced anything like

this, ever. There's a real regimented operation going on. You

come in, check in, you go this way, you walk a certain way. You sit

down, you have the welcome speech. It's very...school-like. It's like

they are trying to keep control of things.

Here's a map for the hotel. Thank you. This is all the restaurants

included and the most important thing, the bar. Naturally! This is

for the all-inclusive, OK? You have to wear this all the time so you can

get the food and all the staff, OK? OK. The freebies.

My all-inclusive bracelet gives me limitless food from 18 restaurants

and, more importantly for Spring Breakers, all I can drink from ten

bars. Here we are! Happy Spring Break

ALL CHEER. Ohhh! Here we are. First Spring

Break. The ocean looks amazing, the sun is out, the pool is really

starting to pick up now. You can hear the DJs starting the games

There's 4000 people here Spring-Breaking. I need to get

involved. WHOOPING.

Hello! He's in good form! I want to go near the DJ. I feel that's where

the biggest crowd are. MUSIC AND SHOUTING After the formal

welcome, things are hotting up on the beach, with some notorious

Spring-Breaker games. DJ: You have to respect my guests.

Go away! What's the competition? A

shake-your-arse contest? Hello there, big-tits! Get out here! Let's

go! MUSIC there, big-tits! Get out here! Let's

The girls will do anything to win the crowd's vote. All for

coveted prize of a T-shirt. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

How about contestant number two CHEERING.

I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but you just BLEEP. Contestant

number six! WILD CHEERING. There's the champion! The champion

arse-shaker! The entertainment may be having a

break, but the competition is still very strong, mostly with the boys

and who can pull. SHE SQUEALS.

My God, it's like a zoo! I hunt down some other British girls

to see what they make of it. Tell me why Spring Break, because

there's not a lot of Brits here It's something that's growing. Loads

of fit Americans! THEY SCREECH. The boys here are outrageous. Who

have you got your eye on? There s quite a few. I like the Australians.

Yeah. Australians, Argentinians are fit. Definitely!

There are plenty of British lads getting in on the action too.

Tell me what's different between a holiday here and a holiday in

Europe. They're just crazy! Everyone here is crazy. Everyone here knows

why they are here. You're on the same wavelength, so you're doing the

same sheet, man. There's loads of Brits out here

Loads! English boys can party more. English boys can party hard. The

Americans don't know how to, they can't drink. They can't keep up

They can't drink, they can't dress, they don't go to the gym. They're

out of the game! They're useless! It's a really nice atmosphere. It's

not boisterous and it doesn't feel gritty. But it's not dark yet and

they've only really started boozing. They've only been here two hours or

so, some of them. In a couple of hours I'm sure we'll see something

different. MUSIC POUNDS. As revellers move off

the beach, the drinking steps up a gear inside the hotel. Spring Break!

Spring Break! Spring Break! USA USA! USA! USA!

Is this what Spring Break is like? Yes. Every night? Every night. All

the time. MUSIC AND YELLING. And at only 10.30, this is just the

start of the evening. I've been invited to a British Spring

Breakers' room, where 18-year-old Yousef and his mates are getting

ready for their eighth night out in a row.

My God, it smells like cologne in here! This is a serious, serious

beauty regime going on right now. I've watched females! Look at you

all! You're killing me! We are thorough. Shower, after-sun, Nivea

skincare... SHE LAUGHS. We do it every night as well. Stand there for

an hour drying out. Brilliant. We've got so much on. So this is your

first Spring Break, right? ALL: Yeah. This is our first

official lads' holiday. OK, so you've set the bar high, right?

Yeah, cos everyone goes to Magaluf. They do Magaluf, Zante, Ayia Napa,

so we thought why not do something different? Has Spring Break lived up

to your expectations? 100%. It's like a completely different culture

in the way of partying, really. British people going out, you know

what to expect, but coming here doing it all day on beaches with

American people is different. They just chant for no reason. What do

they chant? They just go, like, "Whoo, yeah!" For no reason. You

just look at them, "What are you doing? You're an idiot."

The lads and I are heading off campus.

Everyone is en route now. They're all going to the same place.

We are hitting the strip where over 70,000 come to party in Latin

America's biggest superclubs. But it's not just the tourists who are

out in force. So, there are police on the left. Is

that standard? That's normal? Yeah, all the time. Everywhere. There s

army guys, Marines... all the time. Everywhere. There s

back behind the pools. You can't all the time. Everywhere. There s

really see them unless you look They are all standing there in

balaclavas, all armed, Marines, soldiers. At the pool?! Yeah. And

they're everywhere? There you go, there's two of them. Oh, yes! Oh, my

God, that's so strange to see on holiday. Huge guns, look. M-16s

they are holding. That's insane Mum and Dad said, "Do not get arrested

while you're out there." They can do what they want to you out here.

That's definitely something unique to Cancun. I've never, ever seen

military Marines manning a party area. MUSIC POUNDS.

Once you're inside the clubs, security is just as tight. Clubbing

here is a massive, orchestrated operation.

This is like nothing I've seen in Europe.

The main goal is to provide Spring Breakers with enough drink to have a

good time. And if things get messy, the club has that covered too, which

the manager is keen to show me. Hello, Stacey! Everything is OK

Fine! Very OK. You feel good? I feel great. Anything urgent, we have my

paramedico here. This is a paramedic? Yes. Check it out. So we

are behind-the-scenes... Ohhh! This is Stacey. Hello, sir! Like a little

mini doctor's surgery. The cupboard has got agua, oxygen, bandages. .

Needles. For a drip? Yeah. What s this in the bottom?

So it's a potty for women who are too drunk to make it to the toilet.

Yeah. Excellent. I had a really nice time. It's quite

buzzy. It's jam-packed with Spring Breakers, really full. But I've got

to say it was quite Breakers, really full. But I've got

was no kerfuffling. It felt like a nice atmosphere. And to find out

they've got that paramedic hut literally right behind the dance

floor. I think it's a really good thing.

After six hours of clubbing, young drunks are hitting the streets and

the police and army are making their presence known. Relax, senor! Relax!

I'm starting to wonder why there is so much security here.

Even when I return to the hotel there's a guard every step of the

way back to my room. Your number, please. 2630. Gracias.

Ohhh... Fatiga! Fatiga. Si. Adios, amigo. Definitely a different type

of partying. I've never seen this type of... Controlled...contrived...

Partying before. But I think I'd be really fascinated to see it from the

other side, because I'm assuming they... They see it through

completely different eyes. I've been told by the workers and

Spring Breakers that although it all seems very controlled actually,

accidents totally still happen. And people do end up in the back of

ambulances. So I've managed to get access to an ambulance crew. I'm

going to spend the whole night with these paramedics. And I'm really

lucky, because they just situate themselves in the Hotel Zone.

Ola! Ola! Como estas? Muy bien. Y tu? Er... Very good. Are you? I m

very well, thank you. I'm Stacey. OK, Stacey. I am Rosalino.

Rosalino... I am Abran. Nice to meet you, sir. And I can spend the time

with you today? Perfect. Rosalino and Abe belong to an

11-strong ambulance team who handle up to 300 Spring Breakers every day.

Emergencies take them to hotels the clubs, and often the beach.

Very beautiful. Spring Breakers like it here?

Have some of them been this Spring Break? This Spring Break? Erm..

You mentioned drugs there, and this is a party destination. How many

Spring Breakers that you treat are under the influence of drugs?

Despite the security, Spring Breakers seem to be getting drugs

from somewhere. But for today, the beach is clear. After the sun sets,

we head to the strip. Clubs pay for ambulances to sit outside waiting

for accidents to happen. While we wait, one of last night's patients

turns up. He took me to the hospital! No way! Yeah, yeah. How

drunk was he last night? Yeah. Although drunk, this Irish lad could

still remember how he got a dislocated shoulder. Basically, two

naked girls run sat on my knee and she fell over so

I tried to grab her and my shoulder went. Brilliant. A naked chick on

the floor and a dislocated shoulder. Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember him

though? I seen him at the nightclub afterwards. You went and got your

arm taken care of, and then you went clubbing? Yeah. With the cast? Yeah.

I hope my parents don't see this! SIREN BLARES. POLICE RADIO.

Minutes later, we're called to an emergency. A student's been drinking

in a bar, and found himself in the middle of a fight. Right now

somebody called us. We are going to check...a boy. He has a cut in the

front. He is bleeding. We are going to check it. He is in the disco

Hello, what happened? Come in, please. SPEAKS SPANISH TO PATIENT

OK, erm... We are going to clean the... Clean

the cut. The cut. He say he don t want to go to the hospital. I think

he has to. That looks quite deep actually. Quite a lot of blood.

SIREN BLARING. Ciao, amigo. Ciao. They've just taken a guy in, given

him the once-over in the hospital and explained to the doctor what's

gone on. I imagine he'll need a couple of stitches. It's quite a

deep gash. Every time he pulled the bandage away - loads and loads of

blood. But, hopefully - the worst case scenario - he'll have a scar.

So he's been very lucky. Rosalino was telling me earlier that lots of

people come out far, far worse than he has tonight.

Next day, I go back to the hospital to meet the head

Next day, I go back to the hospital Rivas! Hi. Hello, I'm Stacey.

Rivas. Very lovely to meet you. I want to find out what happens with

the more serious accidents. When people come to Cancun, they drink

and they drive, or they incur another risky behaviour. They jump

into a shallow pool, they fall from a balcony, and they get seriously

injured. Often alcohol or drugs are involved in whatever happened to

them. And it can result in a life-changing accident.

I run -- around 12 tourists died in Cancun. I want to know if they have

easy access to drugs. Have you been offered it? Yeah, in the toilets in

the club, yeah. You walk in and there's cubicles and guys with stuff

go... ..and just let you go in. Very subtle! Very subtle! There's a

security in there, but they must be like...tipped. As long as you tip

them, they don't care. I'm not doing that. I'm not getting caught. Not

police. Not in Mexico. Not in Mexico. It's so easy, though. I know

a few lads from London who get on beach... And they sell cigars and

they just... They even have security there.

I decide to head down to the beach and look for the so-called dodgy

cigar sellers. And in minutes, I'm offered cocaine.

Gracias. No. After wasting their time, I get out

of there. It's blatant. After wasting their time, I get out

drugs, you can get them. Even in this high security zone.

To see what the authorities think of the drug situation, I am meeting

with the tourist police. Created five years ago to look after the

Hotel Zone. Hello. Hello, Stacy. How are you?

Very good. Giovanni. Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you.

I am joining offices Giovanni and Daisy on patrol for the evening

I have got to say, Giovanni, I've never seen in any other holiday

destination so much police presence. Cancun, right now, is one of the

safest cities in all Mexico. So we have to take care of that. We cannot

allow that to come down. First thing that hits me is how busy

it is. It's the weekend when local Mexicans join the Spring Breakers,

and already things are kicking off. Hey, hey! Hey, hey, hey! RAISED

VOICES. Hey, listen, listen. Just calm down and tell us what happened.

The driver had a problem. And he hit me, and he hit my friend. Whatever.

I don't give a sheet. Like, I'm cool. Like, I fight, I do not

attack. Whatever. So, are you boys going home now? Well, we're trying

to get a ride. Mate, there's a bus. Let's take the bus. It's fine. OK.

Situation defused, we're called over to a well-known Spring Breaker bar.

Apparently, somebody got in problem. This guy doesn't want to leave.

A young local Mexican is arrested. He's in a real state, this lad his

trousers are undone, his shirt's ripped... Yes, he got in a fight

over there and I think... THEY SPEAK SPANISH. He was

the disco. Made trouble with other tourists. So we are taking him down

to the police station. Right. SIREN BLARING. HORN TOOTING.

Back on patrol, I take my chance to quiz Giovanni about drug dealing.

Tell me about suspicious behaviour. What do you look for? Because I m

assuming this is a drug dealer's element. There's people everywhere,

there's parties everywhere, people have been drinking. If I was a drug

dealer, I would come to this part of Cancun. Well, we look in the little

street, dark corners. That there is no drug dealing. That there is no...

Mugging anybody. That is what we're looking for. So, one of these hidden

alleys, that you say drug dealers tend to go down, is it possible to

have a look down there now? Yes of course.

Giovanni takes me down some of the quieter streets, where drug dealers

have been caught in the past. See, the parking lot areas?

But tonight we are in no danger of catching anyone. They act pretty

clever. I don't know how they do it. They got people, eyes on the

street... And they call them, and they tell them we are coming when we

are doing our walking through, and... Well, probably they hide

Because most of it is people hiding. We don't see it. That's why our

riding is very constant. That's why we are circling again and again

But as they do their rounds, rather than catching the dealers, it's the

more obvious drunken incidents that take over. This is not a public

bathroom. No, no, I just peed. It's a first night in Cancun. First night

in Cancun? First time. First time. For now we are going to give you a

warning, OK? But you cannot use the streets, the buildings, as

bathrooms. So far tonight, most

bathrooms. are getting away with a warning But

bathrooms. accused of harassing girls, and he's

going to the cells. Why did the girls say you were

following them? I can't....speak... No problem. Giovanni, talk me

through what's happened. He was misbehaving because he's had too

much alcohol. We cannot let all these people walk around so drunk,

causing problems. Because, as you can see, tourists from all over the

world are looking. They don't want to see drunk people. And this guy

was following girls? Is that correct? Exactly. He was molesting

the girls. Is correct. Is that correct? Yes, it is correct.

It's clear the police have zero tolerance for Mexicans tainting the

tourist image of Cancun. But I still want to know more, so I join them in

the cells. MAN SHOUTS. We already talked to his

parents. He is not arrested. OK He is only... Being here...

BLEEP. BLEEP. BLEEP. This is normal? You have to put up

with this? That's why we put them away, so they can relax. We know

that it's not him, it's the alcohol, or something. So... He's still a

tourist. So we're just going to keep him until his family comes and picks

him up and takes him safely to his hotel. This is a regular thing?

Pretty often. Typical. Gracias. Leaving this tourist to cool off, I

want to know if what I've seen tonight is usual for the police in

Cancun. So there hasn't

Cancun. violence? No, actually, that is the

Cancun. basic night in Cancun. Most of the

time it is only drunk people, lots of traffic, lots of hardcore, but

nothing of violence, no gun shooting, no gangs, no big violence.

I don't doubt that Cancun is safe and there are great things. And on

the whole it's a very lovely place for tourists to come. But no

organisation or no town is perfect. So what in Cancun do you need to

change, do you need to work on? The rest of the crime scenes, the rest

of the robberies, that is in the outside of Cancun, in the city, in

the Downtown area. And most of the tourists don't visit that area. Most

of the tourists are only in the strip of Cancun, where they have

everything that they need. So Downtown is very different to the

Hotel Zone? Completely different, completely. It's like two different

worlds. And that's where most of the big problems or serious problems,

that's where they are. BEEPING. Is that for us? Actually, that's an

emergency. Probably something.. Well, not an emergency but something

in Downtown. Are we going to go to that? We're going to see. Let's

check it out. There's an incident Downtown that

the tourist police have been alerted to and it's an opportunity for

Giovanni to show me the difference between the Hotel Zone and where the

locals live. But after a quick conversation with his colleagues, it

appears I'm not allowed to go. We cannot go to the Downtown area

because it is out of our jurisdiction. It's not possible

It's not possible because the cars, they have GPS, and it pops up in the

computers that we are out of the area we are protecting of our

responsibility. You're killing me, Giovanni. Sorry, Stacey. Not

possible? Not possible, Stacey. I'm sorry. But that is out of our hands.

Is it because I'm here and it's sorry. But that is out of our hands.

dangerous? No, no. It's just that we cannot go outside our jurisdiction.

I'm very keen to see Downtown, but it looks like it won't be with the

police. Right now, speaking to Giovanni and

spending time with the police, I don't feel like I'm massively in the

know. I don't feel I've become enlightened. I don't feel like we're

going to catch a load of drug dealers and we're going to get into

the thick of it. I feel like I'm getting a bit of PR, which is

understandable. And I totally accept that. I don't want PR. I want to

find out what's going on. I want to find the real Cancun.

The following morning, while most Spring Breakers are still in bed,

I'm back at the club strip. I'm meeting one of Mexico's top

journalists who I'm hoping will tell me more than the police. Lydia Cacho

has spent seven years exposing drug dealers in Cancun, and is going to

show me where they target tourists. You have the big flea market there.

That's where they sell most of the drugs. In the flea market? The flea

market, yeah. Wow. Are we allowed to go over near there? Is that

possible? Sorry? Yes, yes, let's go. To me, this looks quite innocent.

This isn't somewhere you would necessarily associate with picking

up... Absolutely. But anyway, it is. It is a market, it's a flea market,

and it's the same as you might find in Spain or in Britain. Anywhere

where there's tourists, there's selling drugs. What happened last

year here, they arrested 40 people in this market... 4-0? 4-0.

..selling drugs, all kinds of drugs, and it was a big thing on the media.

And now they are back in business, so you can buy any kind of drugs.

They are getting cheaper and cheaper.

They are getting cheaper and controlled by some of South

America's most notorious drug cartels. What you see at night, you

see all the soldiers and police Marines? Marines. They are not here

to protect drunken tourists, of course. What they are doing here,

basically, is making sure that if the cartels... The Zetas cartel and

the Gulf cartel, which are the main ones that are fighting for this

place. They are rival cartels. If they pick a fight, they are here to

try to control it. I'm going to show you another area around here. It's

called the Alley of Miracles. And it seems drugs aren't the only

thing on offer. The cartels also deal in prostitution.

We have an important problem with that. Some experts are saying that

Mexico is virtually becoming the Thailand of Latin America. I uncover

a network of sex traffickers here. One of them is the owner of a big

hotel. I'm shocked to find out how many

women come to Cancun looking for work, but end up in prostitution.

I don't think necessarily Cancun is a place that you would think that

sex tourism, under-age prostitution is a rife problem. I think you think

Southeast Asia, Thailand, Cambodia, all that area really struggles with

that. But, here, to know that that is going on in fancy hotels, down

these alleys where we're going for drinks. And we're going for our

nights out is a really sobering thought. This is a very nice side of

Cancun, and there's a very nasty side. And the nasty side has a lot

to do with how criminals are making a huge economy.

I want to see the other side of Cancun. And Lydia has agreed to take

me downtown, the area the police didn't show me.

Here on you have most of the hotel workers. Everyone that cleans the

hotels, that make you happy workers. Everyone that cleans the

hotel, the barman, the cleaning woman,

hotel, the barman, the cleaning of the city. How many

hotel, the barman, the cleaning part of Cancun? None. Absolutely

none. Just ten minutes from five-star

hotels and I enter a different world.

Tarmac is gone. We've left the tarmac and we're just driving down a

little sort of dirt track. You can see... I mean, look over there.

Things are very, very different here. I mean, this, look, it's a

home. There's one here. These are these people's...family homes.

It's not just family homes. Lydia tells me this is where many of the

tourist drug dealers live. And crime is rife.

It's easy to forget we're in Mexico because it's so luxurious, and

everything's so plush, and everything's so polished. 15, 2

minutes outside the Hotel Zone, things are very, very different for

a lot of people. DOG BARKS. There's guns, there's knives,

there's gangs, there's shootings. They seem to be intensified the

further outside the Hotel Zone you get.

After passing through the worst of Downtown, Lydia has one more stop a

few minutes away. She wants me to meet one of the victims of Cancun's

sex traffickers. Right now we're at a secret

location. The security is taken quite seriously, I'm assuming to

keep the girls here safe. We have to call her Maria. It's very important

we call her Maria because she absolutely can't be identified. The

man who forced her into that lifestyle is still free. He's still

running around. He's not in prison. So if he finds out that we're here,

or she's speaking to the press, he could kill her. These guys aren t

mucking about. Maria had hoped to work in tourism,

but was forced into prostitution by her former husband.

Why did you come to Cancun in the first place?

What did your husband force you to do?

How many men would you have two sleep with a night in Spring Break?

Do you believe, Maria, that there's lots of young women being forced

into prostitution because tourism exists here, because tourists come

here for Spring Break? Maria is going to have to spend the

rest of her life in hiding. And sadly, she's just one of many who

come to Cancun looking for work but end up being a victim of the tourist

industry. I want to know if working for Spring Breakers is the dream job

many Mexicans imagine. There are half a million men and women who

work in the hotels and I'm going to join one of them.

Teresita. Teresita. Stacey. What do you need help with? Rapido, rapido.

Why do we have to be so rapido? How much do you have to clean a day

Teresita seems to be managing perfectly well on her own, so I ll

see if I can help elsewhere. With an average of 50,000 Spring Breakers in

Cancun at any one time, there's a lot to clear up. WOMAN VOMITS She's

being sick. She's being sick. She's thrown up everywhere. I'm going to

have to clean that up in about 5 seconds.

Despite the work not always being that pleasant, there are still

plenty of smiles for the Spring Breakers. She's very patient. And

it's interesting, because when you try and ask her in detail about her

wages or her tips, or whether she thinks this is a good job or not,

she's very, very private, which is completely fair enough, and you

never want to push that. But I think she really is just truly grateful

for this job. Oh, there she is. Happy Spring Break!

Although the Spring Breakers may be easy to get along with, the cleaners

work a six-day week and only get the minimum wage. I want to find out how

their homes compare to the luxury of the hotels they work in, so I'm

heading back downtown to take a look behind closed doors.

This water pump that you see behind me is the only source of water that

these homes get. It goes without saying that everything you see here

is completely, totally and utterly different to that we're used to

seeing in the Hotel Zone, the five-star luxury. It's worlds apart.

DOG BARKS. Ola.

I've come to see Rosa, a mum of three who started working in a

Cancun hotel five months ago. Thank you

Cancun hotel five months ago. come. Is this you? Ola!

Cancun hotel five months ago. So, this is the food area, the

kitchen area. Lovely. This is your cooker, water and all your food for

the family. Si. And then is this the baby's bedroom? Right. OK. So that's

the living room. And then you've got one bed here. Where do you all

sleep? It's a bit cramped. Tell me about your job.

So that's about ?3 a day. And your home? Did you make your home, or did

you buy this plot of land? I guess it's very different because

you're working in the Hotel Zone, which is very luxurious and there's

electricity everywhere. There's lots of spotlights. To come home and have

to steal electricity just so your kids can see at night is just very,

very different. How do you deal with that?

Muchas, muchas gracias. Gracias Muchas gracias! Ciao, ciao.

It's tough, that, isn't it? Some people watching this will say the

hotels aren't doing enough. The hotels should be paying more. The

hotels should be looking after their staff more than they are. And

perhaps they've got a point to a certain extent. But the crazy

thought is, if we look at these people and think they're in an awful

position, we've actually got to remember they're not in the worst

position. They're actually lucky in the sense that they've got a job. So

what do you do? Ideally, in an ideal world, of course you want them to

earn more. Of course you want them to not be panicking about money But

the reality is, they're so made up and they're so grateful that they've

got this job in tourism. And if tourism left Cancun, if tourism

wasn't big here... What you see now would be ten times worse, no

question. Rosa's story is a familiar one for

those starting out in the Hotel Zone. But there are ways out of the

slums. I'm meeting up with Teresita, the cleaner I work with from my

hotel. She's invited me back to her home.

After working at Oasis for eight years, the hotel gave her a mortgage

and she moved into a housing estate. Ola! Como estas?

It's your babies! They're so similar!

Like Rosa, Teresita's basic pay is ?3 a day. She lives with her three

kids in this two-bedroomed flat and repaying her loan takes up half her

salary Even living with a solid roof over

her head, I want to know if Teresita feels safe living downtown.

It's a very different side to Cancun that the tourists are not familiar

with. So there's lots of people who are involved in organised crime here

and there's lots of cartels. Is that a concern for lots of mums living in

areas like this? Oh, don't get upset. What are you

crying for? I look at her and think, "You've got

it tough." She lives in a part of Mexico where rapes do occur. Young

girls do get raped. It is a dangerous place. At night, they

don't tend to go out. The little lad's always asking for money and it

only takes a cartel to pick up on that. "Oh, you

really happen, and... That's tough and she knows that and I think she

worries about that a lot. It's not surprising that Teresita's

worried. In Mexico there are up to 30,000 children forced to work as

prostitutes or drug dealers. I've managed to track down one of

the kids who's been involved in crime in Cancun.

Ola! Como estas? I'm Stacey. He now bakes bread for hotels but

just three months ago was working for a dangerous drug cartel. He then

confessed to the police but because of his age, he wasn't prosecuted.

We're still hiding his face to protect his identity.

To me, you're very, very young. You're only 16. How do you find

yourself in this kind of situation? What age did you start? He started

out selling drugs to tourists but soon moved on to more serious

crimes. How long were you selling drugs for?

Wow! OK. So six months actually selling the gear and then six months

killing people. No,

people, were they kids? Were they a similar age to you?

How easy is it for a 15-year-old to get involved in this... Horrific

world of killing and murders and drugs and organised crime and

cartels? He tells me many kids get trapped

into dealing because they've become addicts themselves.

If you go out looking for drugs on holiday, you can find them in

Europe, America, wherever. The difference with Cancun is the

effects that buying these drugs are having on the local kids. I mean, I

don't know anywhere else in the world where 16-year-olds are

assassinating 25 people. Most of them women. And beheadings are

standard. And shootings are nearly on a daily basis. And robbery, you

know, the crime here is like nowhere else in the world I've ever seen.

And in the Hotel Zone, the tourists are completely protected and

reality. You know, that's what happens here

reality. You know, that's what heard it today. After everything I'd

seen and heard, I couldn't leave without speaking to the authorities

and asking them what they were going to do to improve things for the

locals. Ola! Julian? I'm Stacey. Nice to

meet you. So I've come to talk to the President of Tourism for Cancun,

Julian Estrada, who had brought along his legal adviser, Tomas.

Do you think it's fair that a place like Cancun, that treats tourists so

well, and I'm not questioning that, tourists are kept very, very well,

here. But that same level of attentiveness and care isn't

necessarily shown to the locals and the workers here. It is, because we

have our jobs. Not in all Mexico, you can get a real good job and a

very well payment job. Do you think the money that is poured into Cancun

through tourism attracts the drug cartels and the people that are

involved in organised crime? Of course. In Cancun, we have all of

the eyes... Eyeses? In the country. The eyes? Yes. You know, checking

that the tourist is OK, all the tourist areas are safe. But drugs

are still rife. Drugs are still very, very easy to get in Cancun.

For me, it's not OK to consume drugs. But the government cannot, we

cannot take all...to all the people that consume drugs because... It's a

lot of problems. I understand what you're saying. So you're saying if

you in Mexico went down to Cancun and arrested everyone that had

drugs, that they were going to personally consume themselves, you

would end up arresting so many people that you wouldn't be able to

deal with that amount? We don't want to say that in Cancun you can do

everything. And you can consume a lot of stuff because that

everything. And you can consume a to give that... Yeah, I understand.

You don't want to give... But the federal law say that for the person

that consume, it is OK. Since you've put the Marines on the strip, and

you've put more and more... You ve flooded the Hotel Zone with police,

do you hope Downtown could ever be as safe as the hotel seems to be?

Actually, is the same. It is very safe. Really? Yes. We live in

Downtown and I can... Tell me, every day since I've been here, I've read

the newspapers and there's been 13-year-olds arrested for dealing

coke in Downtown, killings in Downtown, shootings in Downtown Is

that not true? Yes, it is true but this is at some places. So it does

exist? Yes, it does exist. There is a difference but not the bigger

difference. We'll have to agree to disagree on that.

Thomas explained very clearly that him and a lot of other Mexicans

accept that tourists have to be given this special VIP treatment

here in Cancun. You know, they're given the best part of Cancun,

they're given the best security they're incredibly well looked after

and locals get that. They accept that cos they've got to look after

their income. That's the bottom line. And I do believe that them two

men want good things for the locals and the workers. But realistically,

it's just not on the agenda at the minute. The first priority seemingly

always has to be tourists. I've got to ask you to leave the

stage right now. It's a beautiful ass, I know, but...

This year, nearly two million Spring Breakers have been making the most

of Cancun and that figure is only set to rise. While the locals

clearly benefit from the money tourists bring in, the

danger downtown seem to me a high price