BajaNomad

Tijuana Chief of Police killed

BajaGeoff - 9-21-2006 at 12:03 PM

I just learned that the Tijuana Chief of Police and his bodyguards were ambushed and killed this morning on the road due east of Playas. Undoubtedly a drug related incident. This is getting crazy.

JESSE - 9-21-2006 at 12:08 PM

My sources say it wasnt the chief, lets wait and see.

Matan a Subdirector de la Policía Municipal

BajaNews - 9-21-2006 at 12:09 PM

http://www.frontera.info/edicionenlinea/notas/Noticias/20060...

Ángel Ruiz
TIJUANA, Baja California(PH)

El Subdirector de la Policía Municipal, Arturo Rivas Vaca, fue emboscado esta mañana, en la carretera de Playas hacia el Centro, a la altura del fraccionamiento El Mirador.

La balacera se registró a las 8:00 horas, a la altura de El Mirador, dejando atrapados a varios civiles que transitaban en el lugar.

Una persona que viajaba en un Pointer color verde, con placas AHP6043, resultó lesionada en la balacera al igual que uno de los escoltas que acompañaban a Rivas Vaca.

El Subdirector de la policia municipal, falleció cuando era atendido en el Hospital.

A las 11:00 horas la Secretatria de Seguridad Pública Municipal ofrecerá una conferencia donde informará sobre los hechos...



La balacera se registró hoy alrededor de las 8:00 de la mañana en la carretera a Playas hacia el Centro a la altura de El Mirador.

[Edited on 9-21-2006 by BajaNews]

JESSE - 9-21-2006 at 12:20 PM

The good thing is that its not the chief, the bad news is that i went to school with Rivas.:no:

Jesse

Baja Bernie - 9-21-2006 at 08:34 PM

Glad you are down south!

Tijuana officials seek army intervention

SUNDOG - 9-22-2006 at 11:33 AM

Tijuana officials seek army intervention





Recent killings may be caused by drug cartel
By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 22, 2006



Associated Press
TIJUANA – A string of killings is plaguing Tijuana a month after U.S.
authorities detained suspected drug kingpin Francisco Javier Arellano
Félix, and some authorities are taking the violence so seriously that
they have called on the Mexican army to help restore order.

The latest victim was a city police assistant chief, Arturo Rivas
Vaca, who was in his patrol car when he was gunned down about 8 a.m.
yesterday. Jorge Eduardo Ledezma Magallon, a police officer who was
Rivas' bodyguard, and Luis Francisco de Santiago Ferrer, a bystander,
were injured in the attack, according to Luis Javier Algorri Franco,
the city's secretary of public security.



Associated Press
Tijuana Municipal Police sub-director Arturo Rivas Baca was ambushed
on Thursday, Sept. 21 in Tijuana, Mexico, while driving to work. More
than 150 shots were fired, some by Rivas, during the shootout.




Vaca was the fifth law enforcement official to be killed this month,
an unusually high number for such a short time frame. None of the
deaths has been officially linked to the Arellano Félix drug cartel.

Meanwhile, homicide teams are investigating a spate of dumped bodies –
six on Tuesday alone. Bodies that are left along roadsides and in
other places are often victims of drug traffickers.

The developments prompted the state's attorney general to suggest
that residents be particularly cautious, and caused Algorri to prod
federal and state authorities to bring in the army.

It's unclear what role he expects them to take, whether patrolling
the streets or actively investigating cases. The military has been
involved in the capture of some top Arellano members in the past,
though it's not impervious to corruption.

“The participation of the Mexican army is necessary to help the
police agencies,” Algorri said. “We find ourselves in an emergency
situation.”

As Arellano Félix remains in custody north of the border, the cartel
continues to function. Though other rival groups are believed to be
trying to move into the Tijuana area, offering generous cash
incentives, observers of drug-trafficking trends say it's more likely
the violence is due to the cartel going after rivals and traitors,
and cleaning up its own house.

“Normally, when the head of a cartel is detained, these things
happen,” said Jorge Chabat, a drug trade expert at the Center for
Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico City. “You would have to
wait to see if this continues to see if this is a war between
cartels.”

Other clues have emerged in recent weeks that some see as indicators
of the Arellanos' involvement in the killings. Some of the dumped
bodies have been left with unusual messages that suggest the victims
were targeted as traitors.

The violence also has involved people with no connection to the drug
world. Last week, a waitress and a U.S. citizen died when assailants
opened fire on a group of law enforcement officials eating at a
restaurant.

Official statistics, however, don't show a dramatic upswing in
killings. During the first 20 days of September, 27 homicides have
been recorded. Since 2003, the number of killings per month has
ranged from 18 to 57, according to statistics from the state attorney
general's office. What makes the situation unusual is the kind of
violence and who is being targeted.

Top Mexican law enforcement officials in Baja California will speak
only in general terms about the killings' possible connection to the
detention of Arellano Félix.

“It could be the case ... but it's not something I can confirm,” said
the state secretary of public security, Víctor de la Garza Herrada.

Algorri, with the city of Tijuana, noted during a Mexican radio
program last weekend that more mercenary groups were operating in the
area.

“We have information that armed groups have come here from the
interior of the country to Tijuana,” he said.

He named specifically the Zetas, a shadowy group of elite ex-military
officers who have become enforcers for drug gangs.

Experts in drug-trafficking trends said it appeared the Arellanos
were contracting with the Zetas and other mercenaries to target
snitches and enemies.

The Zetas are suspected of being recruited originally by drug
trafficker Osiel Cárdenas, who is in a Mexican prison.

Cárdenas' gang, known as the Gulf Cartel, is battling with rivals
over the control of drug routes in the eastern portion of the U.S.-
Mexico border, south of Texas.

The Arellanos and the Gulf Cartel have the same enemies, and there
have been suspicions in the past that they were sharing resources,
such as the Zetas.

Police are targeted because drug traffickers require their
cooperation to ensure that drug loads get through with minimal
interference. Sometimes officers are killed because they stand up to
traffickers, but often the reasons are more complex. Officers who
receive money from the Arellanos are expected to fulfill certain
obligations, and to not take money from other drug groups.

Yesterday, during a news conference to confirm the death of Rivas,
who was one of two assistant directors under the police chief,
Algorri refused to take questions from reporters. With a grim face,
he said Rivas had worked 20 years for the Tijuana police department,
and that two of his children were also police officers with the
agency.

He called the recent killings “unusual and condemnable acts of
organized crime.”



----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com

Hook - 9-22-2006 at 12:24 PM

Condemnable........but certainly not unusual.

So, doesnt this call for military intervention echo the request of the businessmen of Rosarito only a couple months back?

Question.........if we are allowed to operate military units in countries like Peru and Colombia in the pursuit of drug cartels, why not Mexico?

I mean, if someone wants military intervention, who's better at it than us?? :spingrin:

Hook - 9-22-2006 at 04:02 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by lencho
Quote:
Originally posted by Hook
Question.........if we are allowed to operate military units in countries like Peru and Colombia in the pursuit of drug cartels, why not Mexico?


Uh, I'll answer that with a question: why are we allowed to operate military units in countries like Peru and Columbia?

--Larry


It's a fair question............isn't the answer to everything

M O N E Y !!!!!

Well, not the spoken answer...........

[Edited on 9-22-2006 by Hook]

Your friend died a violent death

Dave - 9-22-2006 at 08:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by JESSE
the bad news is that i went to school with Rivas.:no:


Know two guys who were four cars behind. Said that Rivas was shot by automatic fire at close range. Started at his pelvis and went up. Split the guy in two.

Reports are that he received a flower garland at his office four weeks ago.