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Attendees of a clandestine party leave the house after the authorities assaulted it during a local government operation against clandestine parties and the sale of alcohol amid restrictions due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, in the municipality of Ecatepec in the State of Mexico on December 18. 2020.- Mexico City and the neighboring State of Mexico suspended all non-essential activities from this weekend due to an increase in the number of coronavirus cases, the mayor said on Friday. (Photo by ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP)
ECATEPEC, Mexico – Police in a suburb of Mexico City are playing cat and mouse with revelers at clandestine parties that circumvent coronavirus restrictions.
On Friday, for example, authorities in the town of Ecatepec raided the same house for the third time to disrupt a party with people without masks drinking beer and dancing with a DJ. The festivities, like others held in secret, had been announced on social media.
“Do you know how bad the coronavirus is?” an officer asked the host of the party, as the guests took to the street under the gaze of about 30 policemen, military, firefighters and members of the National Guard.
As the pandemic spreads around the world, Mexico is one of the worst affected nations, with more than 117,000 deaths and 1.3 million known infections. Cases are increasing dramatically.
It’s so bad in Mexico City and the neighboring state of Mexico that on Friday the mayor suspended all non-essential activities.
And Ecatepec is one of the most affected areas in the extensive metropolis that is Mexico City.
Raids like the one on Friday have become frequent as Christmas approaches, but they have been carried out since the beginning of the pandemic, said José Isauro Bautista, the mayor of Ecatepec, who accompanied police in the raid.
He says he has broken matches with up to 250 people.
Minutes before police arrived at the home on Friday, the music suddenly stopped. But the murmur of voices made it clear that something was going on inside. So did the half-full beer cans that were thrown out the windows.
“Good evening, everyone must go,” the officer said as she knocked on the door.
When he got no answer, he shouted: “We are here with the Civil Guard!”
The host finally opened the door, but asked the police not to take photos, and 20 guests quietly left.
The officer asked the host if he knew that parties like this increase the risk of revelers returning home and transmitting the virus to vulnerable people like the elderly.
The host didn’t say anything.
Prior to this raid, the same team tore up a billiard room and taco restaurant combination that violated the ban on the sale of alcohol.
“You should arrest the snitches,” a woman without a mask told police. She was standing under a sign that read, “God bless this business and all of its customers.”
A man cursed the local government and put down his cue to line up a pool shot.
“We get everything,” Bautista said, referring to people who say the virus doesn’t pose that much of a risk, or that they can do whatever they want, even if it breaks coronavirus safety rules.
“We try to encourage dialogue,” he said.
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