Mexican resort served "poisonous" alcohol to woman who died, family says

Abbey Conner had only been at Iberostar Paraiso Del Mar for a few hours in January 2017 when her family says hotel staff served her and her older brother Austin tainted alcohol at a hotel pool.

Soon after, her family said, Abbey was found by hotel staff floating face down, while her brother was drowning nearby in shallow water. Abbey later died at a Florida hospital; her brother survived.

According to the new wrongful death lawsuit filed in Florida and obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the resort knew "that alcoholic beverages being served" were "tainted, substandard, poisonous," and "unfit for human consumption."

After Conner's death, Mexican authorities raided 31 establishments. They seized around 90 gallons of alcohol being kept in unsanitary conditions. In February, the Journal reports, tests found about 235 gallons of a different seized supply of alcohol contained dangerous levels of methanol, a chemical commonly used in windshield washer fluid.

Daley does not appear to be alone. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, since Conner's death, it has received more than 200 reports from U.S. tourists who had similar experiences at luxury resorts in Mexico.

"We thought we were, you know, safe in a 5-star gated resort but it's apparent that you're not," McGowan said.

...The State Department has previously warned travelers to consume alcohol in moderation in Mexico and immediately seek medical attention if feeling sick.

In the United States, there are all sorts of systems, laws, codes, and customs that keep you safe. People begin to think that these things are universal, because they are used to seeing them everywhere.

But they are not universal.

For instance, rails on balconies in the United States are high enough that if you run into them, your center of mass is below the rail, and you do not tend to flip over and fall. However, in Mexico, these rails are often only 36 or even 32 inches high, and if you run into them, you tend to go right over. This is, obviously, a bigger issue if you are drunk.

What I heard was the resorts were getting home made moonshine and substituting it for rum, vodka, etc.
Some probably knew. Others may not have known.
The people know the Gringos are their best customers.
Even the cartels typically leave this Yucatan area alone.
They don’t want to kill their best customers. It would be like spiking your heroin product with too much fentanyl. Your best customer might die.

This kind of stuff happened all the time during prohibition. People made bath tub gin. If you make methanol instead of ethyl alcohol it can kill or blind you. Any good moonshiner knows that.

Many bars and restaurants in the US do the same thing to some extent. They pour cheap vodka, etc. into the expensive booze empty bottle. Most people don’t notice the difference unless you are drinking it straight. You never would know if you are drinking some frozen umbrella drink or mai tai.
That is until the next day when you wake up and feel like crap. If you wake up.

When I was in college I worked at a bar. Tuesday was our slowest night. We advertised our new Tuesday special. $2 cover charge and all vodka drinks were FREE from 8-10. From 10-11 $1. From 11-12 $2. From midnight- 4am regular price.

Tuesday went from our slowest night to the place to be. It was packed 5-6 deep at the bar. We made vodka drinks ten at a time. People could not understand how we could do it? We had to be losing money.

We bought the cheapest GENARIC VODKA you could buy. Less than $3 for a 1.75 liter bottle(1984-85). The drink of choice was vodka and ice tea. We mixed Nestea Ice mix in 10 gallon containers. We calculated it cost $.06/drink including the plastic cup. We were making money even during the first two hours with the $2 cover charge. You could not possibly get more than 6 drinks in the first two hours because the bar was so packed. We had two bartenders, one bar back and myself and a 6’5” bouncer guy worked the door
and checked ID’s. The drinking age in NY was 18 at the time.

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