Tijuana BC 2018 : 77 Murdered in the First Two Weeks

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: El Sol de Tijuana

                                                                  Welcome to 2018

By: Uriel Saucedo Jan 14, 2018
Angel F. Gonzalez Jan 7, 2018
Extra Material from: UniMexicali/ Uniradio Informa

The three people killed on Jan 6, 2018,  make of total of 32 violent deaths, ie, criminal murders in the first five days of this year. At least 5 people were found in various incidents  and Colonias of Tijuana in the last 24 hours. With this figure, January averages just over 6 people executed every day in its first five days.

At 11:35 am, Municipal Police officers went to the Colonia Valle Imperial, Section One, where they reported the presence of what looked like human remains. Elements of the Attorney General's Office of the State (PGJE) arrived moments later and, when going down to a ravine, they confirmed that they were indeed human bones. The remains were transferred to the facilities of the Forensic Medical Service so that the cause of death is defined and the deceased is identified through necropsy.

Minutes before noon, paramedics from the Red Cross went to Calle Ramón López Velarde, in Colonia Pórticos de San Antonio, where a man was attacked with a firearm. The rescuers attended to the victim, whom they found on a public road, with a bullet in the head. 

The assaulted, around 35 years of age, did not present vital signs and was declared lifeless at the scene. According to witness statements, the victim was shot by three individuals who, after carrying out the assassination , fled on foot and were not located.

In another incident, at 2:30 p.m., an unconscious man was located on Jacaranda street in the El Florido First Section subdivision. Upon the arrival of the Red Cross paramedics, it was discovered that the man had been attacked with a firearm and abandoned in flower beds.

On Calle Article 5 of Colonia La Esperanza a man was shot in the thorax and abdomen. Paramedics confirmed the death and that his attackers had fled in Ford Explorer type vehicle. (apparently no police authorities arrived at the scene ????? )

A night watchman and/or Security Guard was found murdered at the establishment he was stationed, the Unidad Deportiva Tijuana  on Calle Via Rapida Poniente, Colonia 20 de Noviembre. The man, named Señor Cruz, 54,  showed signs of aggression and torture and died of severe wounds to his head delivered by blows. Señor Cruz was apparently asleep at the time of the arrival of his attackers.

A calcinated human body was found dumped on Calle Jose Maria Morelos in Ejido Chilpancingo. No information available on the identity of the person or witnesses.

Four men escaped on foot in the Colonia El Florida 1 Parque Industrial; a man was found murdered by bullets to the head on Calle Matanucos and another victim was found still alive but with several bullet wounds and thus was taken to the General Hospital.

Colonia Urbivilla del Prado 2: A dead male was found in the middle of a street with several bullet wounds to his body, apparently dumped there, while the perpetrators of his murder fled in a Dodge vehicle.

One identified victim, Jorge Reyes Aguilar, 41 years old , was assassinated by gunshots in different parts of his body. In this case neighbors made a 911 call to Authorities when they heard the sound of gunfire across the street. He was found in a second floor apartment.

A few more wounded were found at various locations, transferred via the Red Cross to the General Hospital and all attackers sighted by any and all witnesses reported seeing them flee in vehicles down dark streets.

In the first 14 days of this year, the death toll has reached the number of 77 dead. Among the latest cases reported during the night of Saturday and early Sunday, there were up to four violent deaths in different parts of the city.

On Monday, Jan 8th, eight murdered bodies were reported and / or discovered.

After 9:50 pm on Saturday, a fight was reported on the Matamoros Avenue of the Independencia neighborhood that required the intervention of municipal police. Several individuals were making  detonations on the public road, ie, there was a shootout.

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At the moment municipal police units arrived at the scene, they found three men badly wounded, so they requested the support of paramedics from the Red Cross in the place, who after attending to the wounded determined that one of them  did not have vital signs, while the other two were transferred to receive medical attention, reporting one of the injured in a serious state of health, while the second was not at risk.

Witnesses mentioned that one group of armed men fled in a black truck, so an operation was carried out in the area to try to find the vehicle.

At 8:15pm  a body was reported lying on the street, on the street Jalisco Canyon Jalisco Guadalajara, where he discovered the lifeless body of a man, which was wrapped in a blanket and had narco message tied to it.

Later, at 23:00 hours, it was reported that on Joaquín Murrieta street in Ejido Maclovio Rojas colony  a man was killed, no information was given information about his identity, but he died at the site of the attack of the injuries from bullet impacts that he presented in all different parts of his body.

Two men were apprehended by municipal police officers after they shot at a police unit when they were traveling down García Avenue in the Villas del Álamo neighborhood in Los Pinos.

The events occurred after the municipal police unit noticed that a black-colored vehicle was traveling at excessive speed, so they signaled them to stop, the men ignored it and started to flee so the agents on board the patrol initiated a persecution against the fugitives.

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When the men fled, they began firing against the unit so that they would not be apprehended; however, the officers managed  to catch both criminals, who identified themselves as Gabriel Esteban N, 29, and Yohen Elías N, 19; after searching them, the authorities  seized a 40-caliber weapon and a magazine containing eight useful shots. In addition, the license plates of the vehicle were verified and it was confirmed that the car had been reported stolen. The men were detained and  were taken before the corresponding authority.  No one was injured in this incident.

At 7:40 am on Sunday, on Spring Street in Colonia Los Alcatraces,  a man's body was reported after being spotted in a ditch which showed severe traces of violence.

Three Found Murdered in less than Two Hours:

Between 5:50 and 7:45 pm on Saturday evening , three men were assassinated in different points of the city. Whomever is responsible used firearms in all three cases and once again no one was detained.

The only facts released regarding these three incidents is that one of the murders occurred in Colonia Pedregal de Santa Julia and unknown subjects aboard a pickup shot one man as he was walking down the street.

SEMEFO:

It goes without saying that with the staggering numbers of murders and abandoned and / or unidentified bodies that the SEMEFO facilities , ie, the Morgue,  workers  and forensic specialists are woefully overwhelmed, understaffed, inadequate and literally overflowing. Lack of any and all types of working equipment including processing, storage and refrigeration units are overwhelmed to the point of unacceptable.

This situation is extreme in Tijuana as well as many other of the most violent areas all over Mexico and in most states and deserves its own complete Post. As we have already reported Tijuana officials are, sadly, reduced to disposing of  many of its unclaimed, unidentified and / or unrecognizable victims of mostly unsolved murders by way of mass graves.

An already overcrowded urban neighborhood surrounds the State run SEMEFO facility and there has been unending complaints from its residents for years now. I will leave the details to your imagination and / or nightmares.