MEXICO CITY – Many people have been profiteering from the coronavirus pandemic in Mexico; prices for oxygen cylinders, medicinal alcohol and face masks all have skyrocketed.
But perhaps the cruelest are the so-called pirate ambulances that take advantage of patients' desperation.The poorly equipped, often broken-down rattletraps ply Mexico City streets listening to emergency radio dispatch frequencies and race to beat legitimate ambulance services to medical emergencies.
They charge patients’ desperate relatives outrageous sums to take them to a hospital, and sometimes even divert them to poorly equipped private clinics from which they receive kickbacks for bringing in business.