11 bodies found in Tijuana over 3 days
Six are found Monday morning, shot execution-style and partially burned in what appears to be drug-related violence.
By Richard Marosi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 8, 2008
TIJUANA -- Police discovered the tortured and burned bodies of six men in an empty lot Monday morning, ending a period of relative calm in this border city's war on organized crime.
Eleven bodies have been discovered since Saturday in violence believed to be drug-related, including that of a woman found in a barrel, state and federal authorities said.The weekend tally pushed the city's death toll this year to more than 260, compared with about 152 homicides at this time last year, and underscored the government's troubles curbing organized crime.
None of the victims had been identified by late Monday, and authorities did not offer any motives for the killings. But the grisly nature of the deaths -- some of the victims' heads were wrapped in plastic and some were charred from burns -- suggested that they were killed by gangsters, authorities said.
Tijuana had remained relatively quiet since a shootout in April claimed the lives of 13 gunmen. That incident, police sources say, possibly stemmed from a feud between rival branches of the Arellano Felix drug cartel, which has controlled drug trafficking in the city for more than a decade.
It's unclear whether the latest killings augur more violence, authorities said. "We have to wait and see. . . . Obviously, we are worried," Deputy Atty. Gen. Salvador Ortiz Morales said at a news conference at police headquarters.
The city's organized crime groups have been under pressure since President Felipe Calderon dispatched the Mexican military to Tijuana in January 2007. More than 3,000 soldiers, supported by federal and state agents, now spearhead the offensive against the cartels.
The weekend's slayings bore many hallmarks of organized crime hits. The six men found early Monday had been shot execution-style. Their bodies had been doused with gasoline and set ablaze; some of the victims were partially burned. On Saturday night, three men were found fatally shot in an SUV. The body of a man discovered Monday in the Tijuana River bore signs of torture and was wrapped in a carpet.
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CNN:
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) -- Police on Monday found six charred bodies on a Tijuana street following a bloody weekend that left 14 people dead.
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Let's see. A city - Tijuana, with over 270 dead (murdered) people in the first seven months of the year. A population of 1,280,000 people. 1 in 5000.
Let's see. 12,875,000 in Los Angeles. Using Tijuana figures we would have 2575 murders. In 2007, we had 324.
AND THAT IS WITH THE ARMY THERE. What would the numbers be like WITHOUT THE ARMY?
And Mexico wants to file human rights motions against the US for building a fence. A fence that might / could / possibly keep some of these murderers in Tijuana and not let them up here - and we are supposed to feel bad? Puhleze.
You have an epidemic - it's called murder. Clean up your cities, clean up the culture of death. Offer your citizens hope, and they will not flee, and you will not need to keep pushing the US for immigration reform if your citizens have any opportunity in Mexico.
What should happen is - a lawsuit filed against the government of Mexico for failing to protect its people, neglecting the welfare of its people, and placing at risk citizens of a foreign country due to your inability to resolve your domestic issues.
drug lords
mexican criminals
government corruption
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