The Department of Homeland Security is discussing measures it will take to address violations of tourists’ laws

The Department of Public Safety (DSP) held an emergency meeting this morning to coordinate a plan to address tourists who violate the executive order against COVID-19 in Puerto Rico.

The meeting was held at Police Headquarters in Hato Rei with DSP Secretary Alexis Torres; the commissioner of the state Uniformed, Antonio López Figueroa; the Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado; and the director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, Carlos Mercat.

Meanwhile, the commissioner of the Municipal Police of San Juan, José Juan García, apologized for having previously kicked off a meeting with the mayor of the capital, Miguel Romero.

Relive the press conference:

Torres posted the call for the meeting on his Twitter account yesterday, after seeing firsthand on Saturday night how many people remained in the county late at night, when the touch was already coming into effect. of curfew.

Torres last night accompanied the director of the Research Office of the Department of Health, Jesús Hernández, who intervened with several businesses.

The San Juan Municipal Police was trying to support Health, which was hampered by the amount of car traffic in the County area, where even a man in a state of intoxication collided with the official vehicle. of colonel Jose Juan Garci’a.

Eventually they set up patrols in two of the main accesses to control the flow of vehicles, which they also had to do at the entrance to Old Sant Joan.

Torres also noted the difficulties faced by Department of Health inspectors in getting tourists to comply with the executive order.

However, inspectors carried out 25 interventions, between Friday night and yesterday morning, in businesses in the metropolitan area, which culminated in the closure of 15 establishments and fines for another 10.