Public Safety: No letup in violence, with 27 dead in past week

2:00 a.m. January 10, 2009

TIJUANA: The violence has continued into the new year, as 27 people were killed over the past week. The majority of the killings were blamed on feuding drug cartels, according to data from the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

The deaths, two of which occurred in Rosarito Beach, were reported between midnight Jan. 2 and yesterday afternoon.
Seven people had been decapitated, including four 17-year-olds. As the drug war has progressed, cartels have recruited more teenagers, law enforcement officials say.

Another victim was a woman shot to death as gunmen kidnapped her male companion from a Mercedes SUV during the day on a busy street.
At this pace, the number of homicides in the Tijuana region could exceed 2008's record number, which the Attorney General's Office reported as 843.

In 2007, 337 homicides were reported

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