They couldn't pay me enough to go to Tijuana

TIJUANA NEWS SUMMARY      
The following is an informal summary of selected print stories as reported by the Mexican news media.  It is provided for informational purposes only, and serves as an index for locating complete texts of the articles summarized; however, the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana makes no attempt to verify the accuracy of the information represented here, and is unable to conduct additional research to verify accuracy or authenticity of the reported items.

1.      Mexican soldiers detained one of the heads of the Arellano Felix Org. (AFO) Friday during the “Baja 500” off-road race in Ensenada, Baja.  The subject, identified as Gustavo Bernardo Arellano, is said to be the AFO liaison in Playas de Rosarito and Tijuana, besides having been the leader of organized crime cells in Mexicali in the 90’s, during the time of former Mexican Federal Police Commander, Armando Martinez Duarte, aka “El Loco,” currently serving time at a high-security Mexican prison.  Frontera (front page, 2A) 6/6/09

2.       U.S. Customs and Border Protection will increase the number of agents along the border to curtail weapon smuggling, announced John T. Morton, Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Mexico City office.   Frontera (2A) 6/6/09

3.      Four suspected kidnappers were detained early Friday by Mexican Ministerial Police in Tijuana.  Their kidnapping victim, a 58-year old U.S. businesswoman, was released during the operation.  Detainees are Juan Jose Jimenez Ruiz, 22; Hector Jaime Ayala Paramo, 42; Juan Muñoz Lopez, 38 and Luis Miguel Fuentes Armenta, 26, who demanded a $1 million USD ransom.  The kidnapping took place the evening of May 29 when the victim was leaving her business located in fraccionamiento Garita de Otay along with one of her employees.  They were intercepted by armed men, who forced the employee inside the business, fleeing with the woman using her own car. Frontera (8A) 6/6/09

4.      A San Diego restaurant owner who was found dead inside an SUV last week in Tijuana was killed in San Diego and brought to this city. Baja Attorney General Rommel Moreno said that available evidence strengthens the hypothesis that he was not killed in Tijuana.  “We also have the autopsy results showing the time of death, which points to the victim’s having died in the U.S.  We are working with U.S. police to gather more information and to learn what the motive was,” said the state official.  Frontera (8A) 6/6/09

5.      In separate cases, six male bodies were found Friday afternoon in Tijuana.  Some of the victims had been beheaded, shot, mutilated and/or left with narco-messages.  State Attorney General Rommel Moreno said that the wave of violence that had taken the lives of six people in Tijuana over a nine-hour span was part of the war against crime.  “We are in the middle of a war…as is confirmed by the ‘narco-messages’ left in the crime scenes,” said the state prosecutor.  Frontera (8A) 6/6/09

6.       After confirming the detention of Bernardo Cristobal Arellano Mejia, aka “El Morete” Mexican military authorities are linking the subject with the homicide of three Tecate municipal police officials.  According to the military, Arellano Mejia worked for Raydel Rosalio Lopez Uriate, aka “El Muletas,” in Tecate, smuggling drugs and charging for the use of the plaza in Tecate.  The subject was caught Friday afternoon during the ‘Baja 500’ off-road race in Ensenada.  Frontera (8A) 6/7/09

7.      The Shriner’s Foundation inaugurated their new offices located at the Children of the California’s’ Hospital (HIC) in Tijuana as part of their 133rd anniversary.  Frontera (11A) 6/7/09

8.       Tijuana’s first ‘Amber Alert’ case was reported Sunday in with the office of the Baja Attorney General asking the community to help find 8-year old David Lizarraga Gomez, who went missing Saturday June 6.  Frontera (3A) 6/8/09

9.      The first week of June has turned out to be one of the most violent of the year for Tijuana, with fourteen people slain, some of them beheaded, mutilated, and left with narco-messages. Frontera (10A) 6/8/09

10.      A 24% drop in vehicle theft has caused Baja California to drop from second to seventh place among Mexican states in numbers of stolen vehicles.  Frontera (11A) 6/8/09

11.     David Lizarraga, the 8-yerar old for whom an Amber Alert was initiated after he went missing this past Saturday, was found dead yesterday inside a suitcase at a vacant lot near his house. The body was found some 48 hours after the boy disappeared from the backyard of his home, located in Colinas del Capistrano St. in colonia Colinas de Agua Caliente.  Frontera (front page, 2A) all local dailies and TV news.  6/9/09

12.     Seventy-two undocumented Mexican undocumented immigrants and one Guatemalan were detained Sunday afternoon by U.S. Border Patrol agents after the cargo truck on which they were traveling in was inspected in eastern San Diego County.  According to the Border Patrol, of the 73 people found in the back of the truck intercepted at a checkpoint on I-8, one was from Guatemala.  The group of undocumented migrants included 52 men and 20 women coming from Mexico.  Frontera (10A), El Mexicano (22A) 6/9/09
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Media Coordinator
Public Affairs Office
American Consulate General Tijuana

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