Police in Chetumal, the capital of Quintana Roo on Mexico's southern Caribbean edge, are piecing together an odd little case: four rental cars reported stolen from a local vehicle rental company were all recovered within 72 hours — but none of them was returned the normal way.
The first two turned up around midday on Saturday, abandoned in a public parking lot in the town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto, the municipality next door to Chetumal. Both were confirmed as having been taken from the same Chetumal rental firm, and police had them towed.
Two more soon followed. A third car from the same company was found on Benito Juárez Avenue at 79th Street in Chetumal's Jesús Martínez Ross neighbourhood, and the fourth was left on the extension of Benito Juárez Avenue where it meets the Chetumal highway. All four have been towed to police facilities while the investigation continues.
What investigators haven't said is who took the vehicles, or why whoever was driving them abandoned them instead of quietly returning them to the rental desk. No arrests or suspects have been announced, and the company involved has not been named.
For travellers, the story is a reminder of how rental car crime plays out in this corner of Mexico. Chetumal sits right on the border with Belize and is a common stop for road-trippers crossing between the two countries or driving up the Costa Maya toward Bacalar and the Riviera Maya. Vehicles with out-of-state or rental plates can attract attention, and thefts — even ones that end with cars dumped a town or two away — do happen. The fact that all four vehicles were recovered abandoned suggests petty opportunism rather than a sophisticated ring, but it's still a hassle nobody wants in the middle of a holiday.
A few sensible habits go a long way if you're picking up a rental in the area: photograph the car inside and out before driving off, keep valuables out of sight, park in attended lots rather than on quiet streets overnight, and make sure the rental includes the insurance you'd actually need if the car were stolen. It's also worth checking where the nearest police station is if you're crossing into Belize, where paperwork and vehicle checks get stricter.
None of this makes Chetumal a place to skip — it's a handy gateway to Bacalar's lagoon and Belize beyond, and most visits pass without incident. But this week's four abandoned rentals are a good nudge to treat the car itself as the thing most likely to go missing.
Original source: Riviera Maya News
