The Construction Permits

The Riviera Maya gang funneled part of their cash into real estate in at least three countries: Mexico, Romania, and the U.S. They include buildings in Balta Craiovitei, a marshy area of the Romanian city of Craiova where many of the gang members originate, including their leader, Florian Tudor. Two years after becoming mayor, Lia Olguta Vasilescu, who had promised to transform the area into a “fairyland,” granted permission to Tudor’s Romanian wife, Rebeca, to build a five-story apartment building there. (The former mayor is not accused of any wrongdoing.) Using her husband’s money, Rebeca Tudor built at least two apartment buildings, then sold off some of the flats for up to 95,000 euros each. In Cancún, Florian “The Shark” Tudor also transformed an ex-government building into an imposing behemoth that serves as both his home and the gang’s headquarters.