By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
2:35 a.m. January 15, 2008
TIJUANA – A high-ranking police official and his second-in-command were found shot to death late Monday in a central part of this city. The killings
marked the second in less than two weeks of top municipal police officials.
AdvertisementThe Baja California Attorney General's Office identified the victims as Jose de Jesus Arias Rico, chief of the central La Mesa District,
and Elbert Escobedo Marquez, the assistant chief.
Their bodies were found slumped inside a 1988 blue Ford Escort. Numerous shells from 9-millimeter and .223-caliber weapons were found at the scene,
according to a written statement.
The Agencia Fronteriza de Noticias, a Tijuana news agency, reported that the killings occurred at about 10:20 p.m. within the victims' district, a
block from a busy intersection known as La Cinco y Diez.
In a written statement, Baja California's attorney general, Rommel Moreno Manjarrez, vowed to find those responsible for the crimes.
On Jan. 3, another district chief with the Tijuana municipal police was found dead four days after he was abducted from his home. His body and that of
another Tijuana officer were found off a highway in an unpopulated area of Rosarito Beach.
Officials linked the killings to the victims' involvement with organized crime.
Tijuana police have faced rising attacks since Mayor Jorge Ramos' administration took office in December, vowing to eradicate corruption from the
2,300-officer force.
[Edited on 1-15-2008 by vandenberg]Woooosh - 1-15-2008 at 09:16 AM
More of the same. More coming. No end in sight. You'd think that when the Mexican gov't sent "thousands"of army troops to TJ to support anti-drug
efforts that they might hang around the police stations and protect the guys on the front lines.Hook - 1-15-2008 at 10:59 AM
Quote:
Originally posted by ELINVESTI8
I think what is happening as other probably think is that the cartel is killing off all witnesses police or otherwise who would be called to testify
later on in their trials once they are caught.
BINGO!bajabird - 1-15-2008 at 11:20 AM
I saw nutthhhhting
Another Shooting Today in TJ
ElFaro - 1-15-2008 at 01:32 PM
Just came in on the UT news site here in San Diego...
Police official, wife, and children all killed in the Los Pinos area of TJ around 0400. Man...the stakes are escalating!!DENNIS - 1-15-2008 at 04:46 PM
The end is in sight. The winner is the strongest.
Which side can claim most victories?DENNIS - 1-15-2008 at 07:01 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
The end is in sight. The winner is the strongest.
Which side can claim most victories?
I have to refer to myself for lack of comments to my statement. That's OK.
The war against organized crime, the cartels, is lost.
Why? Because it isn't being waged. The enemy isn't being pursued in spite of the FACT that the authorities know who and where they are.
Baja California is a landform trap. The bad guys are contained in this trap by water and the US border. Secure the perimeter and pull in the
strings.
Where do they go after their assaults ? Into the Guadalupe Valley and La Gloria, then they vanish.
Now...If you were a field commander, where would you isolate and hunt?
Yeah...That's right but, it isn't being done. Instead the authorities put up these stupid roadblocks for what? For show, that they're doing
something. Doing what? What bad guy would be so stupid to go through a roadblock with intimidating evidence? None.
I'm waiting to hear about the attacks on enemy strongholds carried out as a result of intel gleaned from enemy combatants, just like the military
operations we hear about regularly in our news of Iraq. The war is almost identical but the methods arn't. In fact, Mexico shows no real method.
We're kidding ourselves in saying the government of Mexico is fighting a war on drugs or anything else when they won't take the fight to the enemy
and, maybe that makes the problem clear, a government who's elected and trusted people won't fight themselves.Crusoe - 1-15-2008 at 07:33 PM
Oh Yes Dennis............You have just nailed it..... square and right!!! ++C++fdt - 1-15-2008 at 08:19 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by DENNIS
I'm waiting to hear about the attacks on enemy strongholds carried out as a result of intel gleaned from enemy combatants, just like the military
operations we hear about regularly in our news of Iraq.
Dennis, if youre waiting for that type of news to be reported on the San Diego paper youre in for a long wait, I've been talking about it on the show
almost all the time, they are busting a lot of bad guys.bajadock - 1-15-2008 at 08:36 PM
Dennis and Ferna,
Thank you both for exchanging and sharing your information and perspectives. It's better intellectual challenge than what most "news"
outlets provide. btw, gotta love BMG's new "editorial" cartoon signature.DENNIS - 1-15-2008 at 08:37 PM
Ferna....Why havn't the major arteries in and out of cities been secured with these stupid roadblocks? Why do they put them up on the toll road and
not the Tecate to Ensenada road? Who do they expect to catch when they put them up for a couple of months, then take them down? I don't transport
any criminal element but, I've only had to go a little bit out of my way to avoid the roadblocks.
Who have they caught? A handful of bosses and functionaries. So what? The war is against an army. The authorities can't wallow in the glare of a
few shallow victories. They are figting an enemy as though they don't understand it, just like the US has been doing. The results for both are the
same. Seems as though Mexico has taken a page from US/Viet Nam history, fight a war you really don't want to win.DENNIS - 1-15-2008 at 09:01 PM
Yeah Grover....I wish I'd said that.fdt - 1-15-2008 at 09:38 PM
Thanks for tunning in Dennis, now you know the rest of the story.Alan - 1-15-2008 at 11:38 PM
Given our own record of success in totally eliminating drug use and the profits from their sale in our own country I just can't understand why they
won't listen to us on how best to resolve this issue.Woooosh - 1-16-2008 at 10:27 AM
I thought the latest police killings (man and his family) were linked to a bank robbery investigation, not the drug cartels.
If they find you and your family dead but in one piece- it's ordinary corruption within the police ranks. When they find the bodies in one place and
the heads in another- that's the drug cartel making a point.
