More than 50 murders marked one of Tijuana’s most bloody weeks of drug cartel violence that included beheadings as well as the death of an American mother of two who was having dinner with her husband on the Mexico-side of the border at a new restaurant Wichos Tacos.
The shootout between drug cartels reportedly included only low-level players, yet the high-stakes game of the drug business doesn’t discriminate against those caught in the crossfire and this time it was an American citizen killed. Yajaira Orozco of San Diego was murdered and her husband, Raul was shot in the leg and is expected to make a full recovery.
“It was the wrong place and the wrong time,” the grief-stricken husband/father said.
The war zone region of Mexico also resulted in the discovery of three boys bodies inside a Tijuana neighborhood; authorities surmise the boys were victims of kidnappers. The unidentified boys expose the especially dark-side of cartel life proving no one is safe in the country until the government reclaims control of Mexico.
Another aspect of the week-long murder spree is the cost to law enforcement. At least one policeman succumbed to his injuries and another Ministerial Police officer was kidnapped and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Mid week proved especially brutal in Tijuana as reports of 11 murders took place during a 24-hour period including a couple who were found beheaded and a “narcomensaje” (a message from drug cartels left on dead bodies) in popular beach tourist area known as Rosarito Beach.
In an effort to quell the fears of American citizens who have avoided Baja in recent years causing the economic downturn to spiral in an already depressed country, Mayor Jerry Sanders of San Diego announced the joint operation of Metropolitan Tourist Police.
The joint effort between the Mexican Police and the San Diego Police Department hopes to train 22 Mexican law enforcement officers to better respond to tourists needs and lure Americans to the sites south of the border.
During the daylong training session, Mexican agents were given instruction for an array of topics including gangs, ethics, patrol tactics and how to interact with tourists.
“Visitors need to know that there is someone who is there for them on the other side of the border,” said Giovanni Malinchrynni a Rosarito Beach Police officer. This daylong training hopes to erase the bad images most have regarding the Baja region, according to training authorities.
However, security expert, Rick Sweeney of SECFOR International says the daylong training won't do much. He explains, "Quite often the chiefs and supervisors will come to the US for training, and the lessons learned do not trickle down to the officers on the streets. The officers that do attend quality training programs will quite commonly go back to their old ways soon after the course if finished."
"There are a lot of good police officers in Mexico, unfortunately the system is not in their favor. They have had some successes in tackling the serious problems down there, but too often we see specialized units being used simply to clean the streets of the common low-level criminals. Another surprising observation is that in the midst of numerous attacks on Law Enforcement in Tijuana and Rosarito, very few patrol units are rolling in such a way to detect and counter these attacks," he said.
"I would definitely not recommend vacationing in the Tijuana region under the current circumstances," Sweeney finished.
For more stories; http://www.examiner.com/x-10317-San-Diego-County-Political-Buzz-Examiner
Comments
Quarter-million US troops in mideast, border is open? Don't go to mexico until the criminals are caught.....Bwa-Ha-Ha!
How's that drug prohibition workin' out for ya?
The Banksters like to keep those prices high!
I'm sorry, but this woman is only coincidentally an American citizen. Her husband is Mexican and it is not clear where exactly they reside or work full time, correct?
This is clearly NOT a case of an American tourist on vacation in Mexico getting caught in drug cartel violence. It is not clear that it was even drug cartel violence from this report.
Yet this report ties the murder of an American citizen to drug cartel violence. It calls the area a "war zone" and does not even give the address of the taco shop. The photo is labeled "a Mexican taco shop" and does not even indicate if this is THE taco shop.
Was this in a tourist area? No.
Was the American a tourist? No.
Do we know if there was any potential of drug activities at this location? No.
There was a "shoot-out" with low level drug cartel players... at this particular taco stand... or someplace else? All 50 killed at this taco stand?
Where people are losing their lives, and we deserve better or noth
While we bang Mexico on this. Lets not forget the role the USA plays in all of this. We do have corrupt politicians, we do have an appetite for drugs, we do shoot and kill in our streets. We do have corrupt law enforcement. In a one month time frame, America vs Mexico who has the most of the things mentioned above. Riverside put a memorial up, this week to honor the the men and women who have been murdered in Riverside. There are so many names they didn't even tell us how many names are on it.
Mexico is in a revolution, much more fierce then any the USA has seen in years. We are also in one, in the end if there ever is one. The people will win. So remember we need to keep our side of the not built fence clean also.
Mexico is not safe period! A shocking 32% of all non-natural deaths of U.S. citizens outside this country occur in Mexico. Many of these deaths are a direct result of poor or nonexistent safety standards both inside and outside of the resorts. To read tragic Mexico vacation DEATH stories, many written by heartbroken family members as well as stories written by victims that "survived" their Mexico vacation go to:
www.mexicovacationawareness.com
Kenito:
SHE lived in San Diego and worked at Fashion Valley Shopping Mall. Her husband grew up in San Diego (the two met in Middle School), but never obtained legal papers to stay here. To obtain such papers he had to go back to Mexico and apply from there.
You seemed to be obsessed with Narcos, tourism and geography.
1) A bullet does not make the distinction between who fires the gun and what part of town it was fired in.
2)Is her life worth less because she was not a "tourist"?
3) Tourists have been kidnapped off of Revolution just so you know. Very few kidnappings are reported (est 1 of 10)as they will usually result in the death of the victim once officially reported.
SO, sorry that she was "coincidentally" an American citizen. She was also, coincidentally a beloved mother of 2, and coincidentally killed by a stray bullet to the head in a Tijuana restaurant.
You, Kenito, are coincidentally a MORON!
tijuana is a modern metropolis it's like all this going on in san diego or los angeles.and yet dispite the mayham thousands of mexicans are mooving to this area.they get good paying jobs in san diego and have beautiful homes and drive nice cars.their children go to schools in the san diego area.so dispite all the bad life still goes on.
Unless somebody is sending illegals home ..........This is not news!
when i tried to get get some information to the readers in san diego.the san diego union tribune comments section .i was cut off and can no longer post comments on that site.my comments were just the email www.examiner.com and this one.
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!