Thread: 'We are going to win this battle, and purge our state of cri

'We are going to win this battle, and purge our state of criminals'

After the slayings of at least 13 people in Tijuana, Baja California officials vow to combat a surge in violence
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

April 30, 2008



PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune photos
Military vehicles were placed at the end of each block surrounding federal offices in Tijuana yesterday, where evidence from Saturday's shootouts was being held – as well as the main hospital (below).







TIJUANA – As hundreds of soldiers and police officers stood in formation outside City Hall yesterday, top federal, state and municipal officials urged intensified measures to bring criminals to heel in a city rattled by violence.

Three days after a gunbattle between rival gangs killed at least 13 people, the officials called for measures including increased federal operations, and demanded that radio and TV stations refrain from playing ballads called narcocorridos that they say lionize drug lords.

“We are going to win this battle, and purge our state of criminals,â€

I can only hope they are right about the violence and increased crime meaning that the base of cartel operations has hurt them enough to have to start finding other sources of money.

I also hope they can get it under control, I fear if they do not, it will spill over terribly into our own border communities.