Nearly a dozen families are struggling to understand how a loved one died or was injured after consuming alcohol while vacationing in Mexico. Tourists to multiple upscale resorts in and around Cancun and Playa del Carmen say they believe they were drugged or served bootleg alcohol after small amounts of booze caused them to lose consciousness.
Tourists to multiple upscale resorts in and around Cancun and Playa del Carmen say they believe they were drugged or served bootleg alcohol after small amounts of booze caused them to lose consciousness. These accounts have happened at Iberostar’s property in Cancun and at the company’s cluster of resorts 30 miles to the south in Playa del Carmen as well as other all-inclusive resorts in the region, such as Secrets and the Grand Oasis.
Victims range in age, male and female, all have reported consuming different types of alcohol, including tequila, rum and beer. Some said they had as few as one or two drinks before losing consciousness-waking up hours later with no memory of where they had been or what had happened to them. In each case they said their reactions were unlike any other response they had ever had to alcohol, leaving them terrified.
College student Abbey Conner was on a family vacation when she was found face down in a swimming pool at the Iberostar Hotel & Resorts’ Paraiso del Mar. Her brother Austin, who also nearly died, said she had taken about five shots of tequila earlier. Iberostar’s parent company made a statement when asked about tainted alcohol possibly being served to Abbey Connor. “We only purchase sealed bottles that satisfy all standards required by the designated regulatory authorities. We are deeply saddened by this incident and reiterate our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family.”
Nolan Webster, 22, also drowned in a swimming pool at a Mexican resort. Witnesses testified that Nolan was not drunk at the Grand Oasis pool in Cancun when he died. A nurse signed a statement saying hotel staff forbade her from performing CPR on the man, who was breathing at the time. Kathy Daley, 53, lost consciousness after taking a single shot of tequila, and Nancy Mahowald Nelson, 57, reported waking up in bloody sheets after having just two drinks with lunch.
Jamie and Rick Valeri stayed at an all-inclusive resort in 2015 where they both blacked out after a few drinks from the beach bar. They said the hotel ignored complaints that they thought they had been drugged. A Wisconsin woman said she was assaulted while both she and her husband were unconscious — something supported by an exam done by her OB-GYN when she returned to Neenah. Her husband woke up with a broken hand — a “boxer’s break” that his doctor said likely resulted from hitting someone — but also no memory of what had happened.
A 2015 report from Mexico’s Tax Administration Service found that 43% of all the alcohol consumed in the nation is illegal, produced under unregulated circumstances resulting in potentially dangerous concoctions. The national health authority in Mexico has seized more than 1.4 million gallons of adulterated alcohol since 2010 from small local establishments, hotels and other entertainment areas
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