Police in Baja under the gun

Drug gangs exacting heavy toll on officers

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

November 1, 2008

Samuel Martines was the first to die.
Heavily armed gunmen ambushed the Rosarito Beach police officer as he headed home, firing repeatedly at his 1995 Jeep Cherokee, investigators said.

Within a month of the Sept. 25 assault, six other Rosarito Beach officers were shot dead in similar gangland style.

The small municipal police department is reeling from the attacks, and investigators said former and current police officers are involved. Two officers have been arrested, and at least a dozen others have left the force, out of fear or frustration.

As drug gangs have battled for control of the Tijuana and Rosarito Beach region, the police who work for them – and perhaps some who won't – have become increasingly targeted. The small force in Rosarito, on a major drug-trafficking route, is no match for the well-financed, powerfully armed traffickers, and the recent weeks have been especially telling.

Rosarito Beach, with a population of about 120,000, has 217 allotted police positions, but with the most recent deaths and defections, it's unclear how many are still on the force. Mayor Hugo Torres reports 170, a high-ranking officer said this week it was 150, and the police chief preferred not to say, for security reasons.

Officers could be targeted for a range of reasons by drug traffickers – for working for the wrong side, for failing to fulfill a commitment, for refusing to cooperate with traffickers. Some are simply in the wrong place.

“The danger is everywhere,â€