Stephanie Jackter - 3-13-2003 at 09:48 AM
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20030312-9999_6m12...
Tipster says armed group led by man called 'Chapito'
By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
March 12, 2003
TIJUANA ? Police are investigating a possible plot to kill Baja California's attorney general and other high-ranking officials.
The investigation began last week after an anonymous caller phoned the police radio command station to warn that a group of armed men led by someone
called "Chapito" had come to Baja California to kill various officials, including Attorney General Antonio Mart?nez Luna.
According to Mart?nez, the tipster said the armed group "had powerful firearms and they had been in Baja California for several days."
Local media quoted Assistant Attorney General Rogelio Delgado Neri as saying the men came from the state of Sinaloa and were using a beige,
four-wheel-drive vehicle.
Further details of the call weren't released, but Mart?nez acknowledged the caller said the gunmen were targeting "other people who weren't named,"
presumably other top-ranking law enforcement officials in the state.
All of Baja California's law enforcement agencies, including the military, have been notified and are on alert, Mart?nez said.
Mexican authorities wouldn't or couldn't say who "Chapito" was, but there is speculation that a planned assault on a public official would be the work
of drug traffickers.
Mart?nez's post is an especially sensitive one, since his office's investigations sometimes lead to drug traffickers. He received threatening calls
six months ago and again two months ago, he said. The calls come "more or less whenever there are strong actions by the Attorney General's Office."
Mart?nez has been state attorney general since November 2001, and he formerly was the federal administrator in charge of Tijuana's two ports of entry.
He said threats are simply part of his latest job.
"We are conscious of assuming the risk," he said.
Last week, at about the same time the department received the latest telephone warning, state officers arrested a group of people who Mart?nez said
"apparently had links to organized crime." Although some local media connected that group to "Chapito," Mart?nez said he doesn't believe there is a
link.
"Chapito" is a diminutive form of another nickname, "Chapo." Both generally refer to a person who is short and stout, and they are common nicknames
among Mexicans, who tag friends and family with such monikers ? which makes tracking down "Chapito" difficult.
"Obviously, somewhere out there is a 'Chapito,' " Mart?nez said. "But I don't want to detain all the 'Chapitos' out there, either."
Threats against officials in Mexico aren't uncommon, which makes it hard to distinguish between those that are merely meant to frighten law
enforcement officials and those that are real.
A Tijuana city police chief, Alfredo de la Torre M?rquez, received threatening calls on his cellular phone at least two weeks before he was killed in
February 2000, according to Mexican court documents.
In that case, the callers said they were from Sinaloa, and they offered the chief money to allow them to operate undisturbed in Tijuana. When de la
Torre didn't cooperate, the callers apparently threatened him ? and then carried out their threat.