Where There's Smoke...

On Isla Mujeres we have a naval base. But the military presence on Isla is nothing compared to what it is here. Truckloads of military personnel can be seen everywhere. Pickups carrying fully equipped men are a constant sight. Funny though. I have yet to see any female personnel. Security is taken very serious in this area.



Last week we were returning from checking out Playa Bocana and we could see smoke in the distance. Heavy black smoke. As we got closer to the condo, we could see it was in our area.









We decided to check it out and continued on down the road towards Playa Entrega. There is a mirador (outlook) there that overlooks Playa Santa Cruz. As we approached it, we could see it was full of cars and people.



We pulled over and parked. We had found the source of the fire. It was coming from the military base! To the right in the picture below, you can just see the Bay of Santa Cruz, which I showed you on Monday.






The military were also there and were not letting people take pictures past a certain point. But they underestimated the power of the zoom! You can see the flames in the picture below.






We found out later that the military had confiscated a large shipment of marijuana and cocaine and were burning it. They douse it with oil before burning it, thus eliminating any noxious and potentially joy producing fumes. That also accounts for the volumes of black smoke.



Huatulco, if you will remember, is where several months ago the military intercepted a homemade submarine, carrying 10 tons of cocaine. They certainly are efficient here!