Rosarito Beach endures more drug-related violence
9:43 AM, November 20, 2008


If you're going to be driving across the border this weekend to surf, fish, ride ATVs, comb the beach, golf or anything else, you're probably already nervous about reports of violence between police and drug cartel enforcers, and between warring cartel cells.

The latest report will not make you feel any better about your trip:

Authorities Wednesday found four mutilated bodies and a threatening note inside an abandoned car in Rosarito, a once highly popular tourist destination 12 miles south of the U.S. border.

Baja California state police said in an Associated Press story the bodies were discovered in six plastic bags inside a parked car. The note was on the windshield.

Police said in a statement that a fifth body and a threatening note was found hours later near the area where the dismembered bodies were left.

If there is one bright spot, tourists are not being targeted.

Mayor Hugo Torres last week sent out invitations to a speech scheduled for Monday regarding the state of affairs in and around Rosarito Beach. That speech probably has already been rewritten.

--Pete Thomas

Photo: ATV riders enjoy fast times on the dunes of Rosarito Beach in a photo taken last March. Credit: Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times

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