Northern Mexico drug gangs unleash mayhem, US officials asked to take shelter
Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito, and Ensenada were devastated by gang violence, including burned automobiles and roadblocks.
The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana told staff about midnight to “to shelter in place until further notice”
It was the third time this week drug cartels burned and shot in Mexican cities. Gangs target stores, automobiles, and innocent bystanders in response to arguments or capture efforts.
Baja California state officials stated 24 automobiles were burned in Tijuana, Rosarito, Mexicali, Ensenada, and Tecate.
Tijuana’s mayor blamed drug gangs.
Caballero urged “organised crime,” the Mexican word for drug cartels, to stop targeting civilians.
“Today we are saying to the organised crime groups that are committing these crimes, that Tijuana is going to remain open and take care of its citizens,” Cabellero 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 hard-working citizens.”
Saturday’s violence remained unknown. The U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana reported many vehicle fires, roadblocks, and considerable police action in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate.
Saturday, few people in Tijuana ventured out, and several bus and van services stopped running, leaving some locals stranded.
Blanca Estela Fuentes of Tijuana remarked, “Let them fight it out among themselves, but leave us alone,” Why are we to blame if they kill each other?
The mayor’s comment about Tijuana keeping open was an apparent reference to Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, where some courses and other events were postponed Thursday.
Alleged gang members killed nine people in Ciudad Juarez, including four radio station personnel, after a jail battle killed two convicts.
Drug cartel gunmen destroyed automobiles and businesses in Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to an arrest attempt.
Tijuana, which borders southern California, is a rich drug-trafficking corridor dominated by the Arellano Felix cartel but now contested by the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Thursday: “They attacked the civilian, innocent population like a sort of revenge. It wasn’t just a clash between two groups, but it got to the point where they began to shoot civilians, innocent people. That is the most unfortunate thing in this affair.”
Four MegaRadio personnel were slain while broadcasting live outside a pizza shop in Ciudad Juarez.
Mexico has seen random violence before.
In June 2017, a competing group of the Gulf cartel massacred 14 “innocent citizens.” in Reynosa. Four alleged gunmen were slain.
Mexican cartels often seize and burn automobiles to divert authorities from gunmen.