BCS: Violence Intensifies in Cabos

Yaqui for Borderland Beat Material from Octavio Dia, El Sudcaliforniano and Colectivo Pericue

Thirteen people have been executed and three others wounded in the last few days. The murders were

carried out by hitmen in Los Cabos and the city of La Paz.

The first shootout was on Friday afternoon on the federal highway between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, near the Guaymitas gas station resulting in the deaths of two men and the wounding of one woman. According to the first reports, the gunmen arrived and opened fire on the occupants of a white vehicle.

Personnel from The Urgent Services arrived and transported the victims. PGR confirmed that another man died at the hospital. That person was also in possession of spent cartridges from a 9 mm handgun. The location was cordoned off and the Detective Services began their initial investigation.

The night before two men were assassinated in a taqueria located in the neighborhood of Primero de Mayo in San Jose del Cabo. The victims were eating dinner when the gunmen burst in and shot them. The situation generated chaos

in the restaurant and the two men were on the floor. However, it is possible that the two victims were employed at the taqueria and another man who was wounded at the scene was transported for Urgent Care medical attention according to the PGR.

Two more men were murdered by hitmen in Colonia Pablo L. Martinez when gunfire erupted once again in SJ del Cabo, killing one man sitting on a porch bench and another inside the house. There was no description of the criminals.

 These events have caused astonishment among the population in Los Cabos, were high impact crimes have been in the rise for the last six months in the municipality that caters to tourists.

On Sunday, the state capitol city of La Paz, dawned with sound of machine gun fire made by gunmen acting upon orders of organized crime, at Llantera Maffuro (a tire shop) in the Colonia Indeco. Six people were shot, three died at the scene, and although the other three were transported to the hospital, one died hours later and the other two were critically wounded, their condition unknown at this time.

A witness saw a Honda CRV pull up to the tire shop assuming the driver was seeking services. However, when he saw a man dressed in jeans, a white shirt and a hoody pulled completely over his face, he became suspicious and ran around the corner and threw himself on the ground.

There were also other bystanders, three men ages 46, 51, and 81 wounded who had no known connection to organized crime. The 46 year old man was an employee of the tire shop. There were dozens of shots fired from machine guns (cuerno de chivo) and other firearms, creating pandemonium in the neighborhood, as the sounds of sirens from police patrols and ambulances screamed towards the location. Used bullet casings from machine guns and AR15s were collected at the crime scene where the windows of the office and windshields of parked cars were shattered. As of today, these three men have been identified and an agent of the public ministry is investigating.

One of the victims was a cyclist, Ernest Nunez Manriquez, 42, who was passing by the tire shop when the gunfire erupted, his family, including his wife, children and 30 cyclists who attended his funeral are urging the three levels of government to do something.

Shortly after noon today, Nov 9, a person was assassinated by bullets inside a home in Colonia Villas de Cortez in Dan Jose del Cabo. Neighbors reported to the police that they heard about 6 shots and then shouts. The man was identified by the same neighbors as Cristian Rubio and they said that and " armed commando" had entered the house near the minimart "La Osa". Again this area was cordoned off by authorities for the investigation. The victim now has been identified as from Sinaloa.

It has barely been a week since the Governor, Carlos Mendoza Davis, announced yet another plan to reduce violence in BCS, similar to the one proposed two years ago, which is due to a purge between criminal groups belonging to organized crime.

The murder total is some 300 people, as of today , in different parts of the State of Baja California Sur.