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Tourists Can Expect To See K9 Units Patrolling Los Cabos Beaches This Summer

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There are going to be a lot more dogs on the beaches of Los Cabos this summer. However, tourists may want to think twice about petting these fur babies.

They instead will be working police dogs out on patrol, keeping visitors safe during the busy summer travel season.

police dogs in mexico square

Rover On Patrol

The Los Cabos Directorate of Public Safety, Preventative Police, and Municipal Traffic conducted a test run of having police K9 units deployed in pairs around the area during the peak spring travel season.

They planned out specific routes to cover based on historical arrests made of beachgoers with illegal drugs.

The test run was actually effective in catching beachgoers with narcotics and illegal substances in public spaces. There were 31 total encounters between the police K9 pairs and people on the beach. Out of the 31 encounters, it resulted in a total of 13 arrests.

Police Officer Walking Past Tourists on a Cabo San Lucas Beach

Because of this, the General Directorate of Public Security, Preventative Police and Municipal Traffic of Los Cabos Head Jesús Antonio Gómez Rodríguez announced that the K9 police pairs would become more of a permanent feature during high traffic seasons in Los Cabos.

The Need For Police Dogs

The K9 police pair program was created by a joint partnership of all three levels of the government – federal, state and municipal – in response to a number of issues faced recently by tourists in Los Cabos.

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Man At A Pharmacy In Mexico

The Los Angeles Times recently completed an undercover investigation into the sale of illegal drugs to tourists in Los Cabos.

According to the story, they were able to easily find sales of fentanyl at local pharmacies and in tourist areas.

The state and municipal government worked swiftly in response to the newspaper’s claims conducting a series of surprise inspections of the pharmacies in Los Cabos.

Pharmacy sign at the Los Cabos marina.

While they did not encounter the sale of fentanyl from Los Cabos pharmacies, they did find other troublesome practices, such as selling cut pills and shoddy record keeping.

While proclaiming that fentanyl was not being sold at pharmacies in Los Cabos and the other issues have been addressed, local officials implied that the fentanyl was coming from some other source rather than the legal pharmacies.

That led to the crackdown on the street trade in fentanyl sold to tourists and the test run of the K9 police pairs as the enforcement.

Police officers detaining People at private party

Additionally, there was one incident of a fight outside the Cabo Shots nightclub where a quick K9 police pair response could have assisted with the issue.

Instead, tourists were on social media broadcasting the fight live from Los Cabos while asking where the police were that pledged to keep visitors safe during the peak spring travel season.

K9s and Tourists

Mexican Marines Patrolling The Beach Alongside A Man Selling Popsicles

Not only should tourists feel more safe with the K9s police pairs on patrol around Los Cabos, they also create an opportunity for conversation and community building.

In general, Los Cabos tourists feel more comfortable speaking to an officer with a dog at their side.

A side effect of the enforcement was more tourist and community interaction with the police. That’s a positive part of the enforcement.

Tourist police on patrol in Mexico

However, tourists should not feel complacent about the fact that the dog is a trained police officer and is not a friendly pet to be approached and petted.

This is a common issue K9 police officers experience in the field.

Tourists should also avoid teasing or taunting the dog while on patrol. They should also avoid making loud noises that could startle the police dog.

Remember, the mission of the K9 police pairs in Los Cabos is to in part ensure the safety of tourists while they enjoy their vacation in the Mexican beach resort destination.

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