Thread: Tijuana Awash in Wave of Violent Crime

Is Mexico becoming a terrorist country?

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... ay22.story

Tijuana Awash in Wave of Violent Crime
The slaying of a police official Saturday is the latest in the region's string of killings, many targeting wealthy businessmen.
By Richard Marosi
Times Staff Writer

May 22, 2005

TIJUANA â€â€

Tijuana today and with our open borders Huston Tx, tomorrow then what Alexandria, Va next month. welcome to 3rd world USAofMex

Couple of more articles I found. This looks more like something you would expect in the middle east.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... lunch.html

Man abducted from restaurant

By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 28, 2005

TIJUANA – A team of armed men clad in black burst into a restaurant in the city's upscale Rio Zone yesterday and drove away with the owner, police said.

The assault on Carnitas Quiroga, next door to the federal courts and a block from the headquarters of the federal attorney general's office, occurred about 3 p.m., according to the report by Tijuana Municipal Police.

In recent weeks, Tijuana business leaders have complained about a rise in kidnappings for ransom and called for a more vigorous response from city, state and federal authorities.

The restaurant's owner, identified as Adolfo Fregoso Heibert, 48, was eating when about 10 gunmen stormed the restaurant, the report said.

Two U.S. citizens were at the restaurant, an 80-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man, according to the Tijuana newspaper Frontera. The woman told a reporter that she was eating with the owner when she found herself surrounded by the assailants and ordered to the floor. When she got up, her purse was gone, the article said.

The restaurant, on Paseo de los Heroes, specializes in carnitas, a marinated roast pork dish popular in the state of Michoacan.

This week, the U.S. State Department extended a travel advisory for northern Mexico, saying "violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border."

The advisory singled out Nuevo Laredo, across from Laredo, Texas, as the site of the worst violence.

"The vast majority of the thousands of U.S. citizens who cross the border each day do so safely," the alert states, but it advises citizens to stay out of red-light districts and stick to "legitimate business and tourist areas of border towns during daylight hours."




http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexi ... idnap.html


Kidnap fears causing some to leave Tijuana


Frightened families look to S.D. County
By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 21, 2005

TIJUANA – Fear of being kidnapped is prompting some of Tijuana's middle-and upper-class families to move across the border to San Diego County neighborhoods where they feel safer.

In a recent case, a Tijuana businessman said his family paid several hundred thousand dollars for his release after he was kidnapped this year. The family never reported the incident to police, he said. Afterward, he and his family decided to move into the county.

"Many friends of mine have already decided to live in the United States – they are refugees from fear of Tijuana," the man wrote in an e-mail to The San Diego Union-Tribune. He declined to be identified out of fear of aggravating his kidnappers.

Official statistics that illustrate the situation are nearly impossible to find, mostly because kidnap victims and their families are too frightened to report the crimes to police, but anecdotal evidence keeps growing:

More houses are for sale in affluent neighborhoods in Tijuana, according to observers of crime trends in Mexico.

Real estate agents in San Diego County, such as those who sell homes in Bonita and Eastlake, say they are seeing more clients from Tijuana.

Experts say more Tijuana residents are concerned that they are vulnerable to kidnapping.

Victor Clark Alfaro, director of the Tijuana-based Binational Center of Human Rights, said more kidnappings have occurred over the past few years, mainly because drug trafficking groups are finding kidnapping to be a relatively easy way to earn quick cash.

"It's a way to finance their activities," Alfaro said.

In a recent interview with Tijuana's Frontera newspaper, Jaime Valdovino Machado, president of the Tijuana Chamber of Commerce, said the city's business people "don't feel secure" because of crime and kidnapping risks.

Valdovino wasn't available for comment this week, but other Tijuana business people say people move from Tijuana to San Diego County for many reasons – not just fear of kidnapping.

"It's a binational culture, and the question of living in Tijuana or not has been around for many years," said Daniel Romero MejÃÂ*a, president of the Consejo Coordinador Empresarial de Tijuana, an umbrella group of business organizations.

He said some of the other factors are education, finances and quality of life.

"I have had the option, but I have never decided to go there because I don't believe I can live better there than here," he said.

Typically, families that make the move have dual citizenship or U.S. residency status through family or marriage.

Nine kidnapping cases were reported to Mexican state authorities last year in Baja California, according to Raúl Gutierrez, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office.

But that number is believed to be low because many cases are not reported to police. Family members often are afraid that it would anger the kidnappers or that local police are in collusion with the kidnappers.

"It's common that one learns when talking with friends of the middle or upper classes that this or that person has been kidnapped, and that's how you usually find out because they aren't usually made public," Clark said. "The statistics don't reflect the reality."

Clark said he is aware of two recent cases of business people who were kidnapped and released but did not go to police. He declined to give full details to protect the identities of the victims.

In one of the cases, he said, the family paid $150,000. In the other case, he said, the family paid $1 million – and then moved north of the border. That person still maintains his business in Tijuana, Clark said.

Most families don't want to talk about the experience. The kidnappers' method typically is to grab people at gunpoint as they are on the way home or headed to work. Most of the victims are men.

The Tijuana businessman who contacted the Union-Tribune shared details of his kidnapping but asked that they not be published out of concern for his safety.

Abraham Cecena, an agent with Prudential California Realty's Chula Vista office, said he is seeing more people from Tijuana moving to places such as Eastlake and Rancho del Rey.

"It's something that is becoming of greater concern to people down there, especially affluent families," he said. "The crime over there is just getting out of hand, from what they are telling me, and they don't feel safe."

The communities that people are moving to are the same places where some members of Mexican drug cartels – who also commit kidnappings and abductions – live for similar security reasons.

Last year, a man charged with participating in kidnappings for the Arellano Félix drug cartel was linked to a home in Otay Lakes. Others with ties to the cartel, such as money laundering suspect Ivonne Soto Vega, have been found to be living in upscale communities such as Bonita.

U.S. law enforcement officials say they also have noticed that kidnappings have prompted people to move north.

Kroll Inc., an international risk consultant, estimates that 3,000 kidnappings occur in Mexico each year. In Latin America, only Colombia surpasses Mexico, according to the firm.

Those who don't move are taking greater precautions, said Ron Kimball, president of a San Antonio-based company that bullet-proofed 50 cars for Mexican residents last year.

The company, Texas Armoring Corp., equipped six of those for Tijuana families, Kimball said.

"In almost every case, they have told me that they had a family member who has been kidnapped and rescued by ransom," he said. "Normally, it's people involved in major industries like banking or ranching."

Armoring a sport utility vehicle can be done in 90 days and costs about $70,000, Kimball said. The idea is to give the driver enough time to survive an ambush and drive out of danger, he said.

Victor de la Garza, an assistant state attorney who oversees Baja California's organized-crime investigations – including kidnapping cases – didn't return phone calls. If convicted in Baja California, a kidnapper faces 20 to 40 years in prison.

Kidnappings of business people or other residents are typically committed by drug trafficking groups or by rings that specialize in kidnappings.

Those are different from the abductions that drug trafficking groups carry out against rivals, informants or people who owe them money. In those cases a ransom may be collected, but the person is often killed.

Mexican federal authorities often intervene in cases that have a strong drug link. But sometimes residents turn to them to investigate other kinds of kidnappings because they see federal agencies as more trustworthy.

An official with the Mexican attorney general's office in Tijuana said federal agents are investigating three kidnapping cases not connected with drug trafficking groups. The official declined to be named because of the agency's policy against talking with the media.

The rings evade authorities by negotiating on phone lines routed through other cities or countries to make the calls harder to trace. Kidnappers often leave the community once their job is done.

While most kidnappings last a week to a month – enough time for the family to negotiate and sell off assets to pay the ransom – quicker variations have emerged.

"Express kidnappings" take place when a person is targeted for a smaller amount of money – such as $5,000 to $30,000 – and is released within a few days after the family provides the cash.

Other groups have used extortion to commit "virtual kidnappings" in which a caller demands money from people so that they won't be kidnapped. In 2003, 10 members of Tijuana's business community reported such threats, and some ended up placing as much as $40,000 in designated bank accounts.

Romero said ensuring the safety of the city's business class is important for keeping and attracting investment. He said Tijuana's business leaders have been meeting with police.

"We need a greater police presence in the area to prevent these kinds of activities," Romero said.

Anyone remember the 27 or so American tourists that vanished down in Mexico? PI's hired by one of the families found their sons car in a police impound lot.

My point is, why do we even let Americans go to Mexico? Its not worth the risk and dealing with all the corruption and bs down there.

People just don't seem to use common sense. This is like being a tourist in Lebanon in the earl 80's

Originally Posted by ChrisF202

Anyone remember the 27 or so American tourists that vanished down in Mexico? PI's hired by one of the families found their sons car in a police impound lot.

My point is, why do we even let Americans go to Mexico? Its not worth the risk and dealing with all the corruption and bs down there.

I know it doesn't mean much but the state department does have a travel advisory on their web site warning about potential violence to travelers in Mexico. I'm sure most of the general public is unaware of the problems, and bet they are not looking for information on a government web site before going into the country. I haven't been to Mexico myself in over ten years and have no desire to go anytime soon.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_t ... 0.html?css

Monday May 23, 2005
International Travel Home
Passports Home

International

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This information is current as of today, Mon May 23 13:45:54 2005.

Mexico

April 26, 2005


This Public Announcement is to alert U.S. citizens to the continuing unsettled public security situation along the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border. This Public Announcement supercedes the Public Announcement of January 26, 2005 to update the information provided. It expires on July 29, 2005.

Violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade continues along the U.S.-Mexico border. This has resulted in a wave of violence aimed primarily at members of drug trafficking organizations, criminal justice officials and journalists. However, foreign visitors and residents, including Americans, have been among the victims of homicides and kidnappings in the border region.

A power vacuum within criminal organizations resulting from the imprisonment of several of their leaders along the Mexico-U.S. border continues to contribute to a deterioration of public safety in the region. In recent months, the worst violence has been centered in the city of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, where more than 30 U.S. citizens have been kidnapped and/or murdered in the past eight months and public shootouts have occurred during daylight hours near frequented shopping areas and on streets leading to the international bridges. One of the shootouts spilled onto the Mexican side of the bridge itself. Four police officers have been killed in Nuevo Laredo since March.

Mexico's police forces suffer from lack of funds and training, and the judicial system is weak, overworked, and inefficient. Criminals, armed with an impressive array of weapons, know there is little chance they will be caught and punished. In some cases, assailants have been wearing full or partial police uniforms and have used vehicles that resemble police vehicles, indicating some elements of the police might be involved.

U.S. citizens are urged to be especially aware of safety and security concerns when visiting the border region. While the overwhelming majority of victims of these crimes are Mexican citizens, U.S. citizens nonetheless should be aware of the risk posed by this uncertain security situation. The vast majority of the thousands of U.S. citizens who cross the border each day do so safely, exercising common-sense precautions such as visiting only legitimate business and tourist areas of border towns during daylight hours. It is strongly recommended that red-light districts and neighborhoods where street drug dealing occurs be avoided.

there should be a ALIPAC web site link to that warning. See what we can do.

It sure doesn't look like things are settling down any in Mexico. Another assassination in less than a week. Just substitute Iraq in the headlines and you wouldn't notice the difference. I think our President needs to reassess the war on terror south of the border.


link


Second Deadly Shooting Strikes Mexico In 3 Days
Gunmen Shoot, Kill Head Of Mexicali Prison

POSTED: 5:15 pm PDT May 25, 2005
UPDATED: 5:56 pm PDT May 25, 2005

MEXICALI, Mexico -- The director of a state prison in Mexicali, Mexico, was shot to death Tuesday in an ambush outside his home, police said.

Eduardo Villalobos was shot at least five times by gunmen who waited in two separate cars outside his home in Mexicali, across from Calexico, Calif. The assailants then escaped in a vehicle leaving behind the other car at the crime scene, said Perla Ibarra, an assistant state attorney in Baja California, where Mexicali is located.

Ibarra said Villalobos died shortly afterward at a hospital. Authorities have made no arrests but a pickup truck believed to be the getaway vehicle has been found, Ibarra said.

Villalobos had served as assistant state attorney and was head of the state's police unit against organized crime but was dismissed from that post in 2003 after one of his agents killed a man at a bar.

He was appointed director of the CERESO prison in December.

Ibarra said investigators were trying to determine if the attack on Villalobos was related to his job as prison director or his prior work in law enforcement.

The attack on Villalobos comes three days after the police chief of the Pacific coast city of Rosarito, 12 miles south of the U.S. border, was shot to death as he left his house.

Brian503a
about the only difference between mexico and Iraq is they have not started using road side bombs in mexico yet.

Originally Posted by Charlesoakisland

Brian503a
about the only difference between mexico and Iraq is they have not started using road side bombs in mexico yet.

I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually starts to happen since many Mexicans have sympathies toward groups like the Palistinians in the middle east, and even think of themselves as North American versions.