Roadblocks, burning vehicles disrupt Mexican border cities
TIJUANA, Mexico — The Mexican border cities of Tijuana and Mexicali, along with Rosarito and Ensenada, were hit by gang violence that included vehicles being set ablaze and road blockades.
The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana instructed its employees “to shelter in place until further notice” around midnight because of late Friday’s violence.
It was the third time this week Mexican cities have seen widespread arson and shootings by drug cartels. The gangs appear to be targeting stores, vehicles and innocent bystanders in response to disputes or attempts to capture gang members.
Baja California state officials said a total of 24 vehicles had been hijacked and burned at different points throughout the state: 15 in Tijuana, three in Rosarito, and two each in Mexicali, Ensenada and Tecate.
Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero blamed it on disputes between drug gangs and asked them to stop the violence.
Caballero issued a public appeal to “organized crime,” the term used in Mexico for drug cartels, to stop targeting innocent civilians.
“Today we are saying to the organized crime groups that are committing these crimes that Tijuana is going to remain open and take care of its citizens,” Caballero said in a video, “and we also ask them to settle their debts with those who didn’t pay what they owe, not with families and hardworking citizens.”
The extent of the violence was still unclear Saturday.
On Saturday, few people ventured out on the streets in Tijuana and many of the bus and passenger van services stopped running.
“Let them fight it out among themselves, but leave us alone,” said Tijuana resident Blanca Estela Fuentes as she looked for some means of public transport. “So they kill each other, they can do whatever they want, but the public, why are we to blame?”
The federal public safety department said one person was wounded in the violence and that federal, state and local forces had detained 17 suspects, including seven in Tijuana, and four each in Rosarito and Mexicali.
It said some of the suspects had been identified as members of the Jalisco cartel.
The mayor’s comment about Tijuana remaining open was an apparent reference to the border city of Ciudad Juárez, across from El Paso, where some classes and public events were canceled after similar violence Thursday.
Alleged gang members killed nine people, including four employees of a radio station, in Ciudad Juárez after a fight between rival gangs at a local prison left two inmates dead.
On Tuesday, drug cartel gunmen burned vehicles and businesses in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to an attempt to arrest a high-ranking cartel leader of the Jalisco cartel.