Pubdate: Mon, 22 Jan 2001
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191
Fax: (619) 293-1440
Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/
Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Anna Cearley, Staff Writer

HOPES RISE OVER 40% DECLINE IN TIJUANA SLAYINGS

TIJUANA -- Murders dropped 40 percent here last year, providing cautious 
hope and much speculation in a city notorious for its level of 
drug-trafficking violence.

Some say better crime-fighting tactics, such as doubling the number of 
state homicide investigators in Tijuana, brought down the city's 1999 
murder rate of more than one a day.

Others believe the decrease is due to the shifting alliances and increasing 
wariness of drug traffickers, who are under increasing pressure from 
authorities. Some speculate that smaller drug dealers may have reached a 
temporary truce, and are resorting to warning shots rather than outright 
kills. Or the powerful Arellano Felix cartel may still be recuperating from 
the capture of two of its high-level administrators last spring.

"When you cut the heads off a group of drug traffickers, it takes a while 
for them to reorganize and during this time their activities will 
decrease," said Jesus Cureces Rios, president of the Northwest Association 
of Criminology, which monitors crime in Baja California.

Homicides in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Tecate fell from 394 in 1999 to 
235 last year, according to the Baja California Attorney General's Office. 
Although the data covered all three communities, about 95 percent of the 
homicides were committed in Tijuana, with more than half believed to be 
drug-related.

The drop wasn't reflected in the other crimes that have made residents of 
Tijuana feel so insecure. Car thefts, kidnappings and bank assaults all are 
believed to have increased, although exact figures weren't available from 
the state.

In fact, assaults resulting in knife and gunshot wounds rose 39 percent, 
according to Tijuana police records, prompting speculation that some drug 
traffickers are issuing warnings instead of making direct hits.

"We can't say that crime has decreased in general, but Tijuana is not a 
city that we note as being exaggeratedly violent," said Francisco Javier 
Cossio Gutierrez, who heads the Baja California Attorney General's Office 
in Tijuana.

The numbers are high, however, when compared with similar-sized cities in 
the United States. Tijuana's population of roughly 1.2 million is about the 
same as San Diego's, but San Diego had 55 slayings last year, down from 57 
in 1999.

Drugs a big factor

Much of Tijuana's violence is due to its proximity to the lucrative U.S. 
drug market. The area is controlled by the Arellano cartel, responsible for 
much of the violence and drug trade along the western U.S-Mexico border.

But many smaller players operate independently or with the permission of 
the Arellanos. Some are hired to move drugs north, while others develop 
their own drug businesses in Tijuana. They are frequent competitors and 
occasional allies.

To deal with this complex mix, the Attorney General's Office in Tijuana 
doubled its homicide investigations team to 42 agents last year.

"This helped immensely in their investigations and led to the capture of 
people who were responsible for much of the killings taking place in 
Tijuana," Cossio said.

Cossio said his investigators also made some breakthroughs in kidnappings. 
Although kidnapping reports increased from 23 to 34 in the Tijuana area 
last year, warrants were issued in 33, an improvement over 1999.

A record number of 4,000 arrest warrants were successfully carried out in 
the state of Baja California last year, doubling the numbers in previous 
years, said criminal expert Cureces.

"When a person knows that he won't be detained or arrested, then it's a 
motivation for the acts to continue," he said. "These changes showed that 
criminals can't carry on their work without consequences."

Tijuana city officials are also taking credit for the decrease in 
homicides, noting that they have opened additional police substations and 
mobile units in remote parts of the city.

"We are working not just with our words and with good faith but with the 
facts which speak of the great accomplishments," said interim Mayor Juan 
Manuel Gastelum Buenrostro, after a recent news conference touting the 
city's own crime-fighting statistics.

The city's figures don't coincide precisely with the homicide statistics 
put out by the Attorney General's Office, but they do show a drop of about 
26 percent. The attorney general's figures are considered more reliable 
because his office determines the actual cause of death.

Victor Clark, a Tijuana human rights activist, said that while better 
police work has undoubtedly helped reduce the number of killings, last 
year's dramatic decrease was probably due more to the dynamics of organized 
crime.

"Homicides only bring more attention from authorities and keeps them (the 
traffickers) from their work," he said. "They have probably been finding 
other ways to solve their problems."

Gun deaths plunge

Violent killings here dropped in all categories.

Deaths by firearms, the primary tool of drug traffickers, dropped from 253 
in 1999 to 152 in 2000. Stabbings and head blows are the choice for 
small-time drug dealers and drug addicts. Killings using knives showed the 
greatest percentage decline, from 64 to 32. The number of slayings due to 
head blows or strangulations dipped from 77 to 51.

Tijuana's reputation for drug-related homicides was reinforced last year by 
several highly publicized cases.

The February slaying of Tijuana police chief Alfredo de la Torre Marquez 
was explained by local police as the result of a turf battle that occurred 
when a Sinaloa-based cartel tried to muscle into the Arellano Felix 
cartel's territory. Some U.S. officials, however, suspected the chief was 
in league with the Arellanos.

A few months later, three Mexican anti-drug agents who had been working 
closely with San Diego agents were found dead near their crashed car off a 
mountain road.

Arrests made in several of last year's major cases may have led to a 
temporary lull in the murder rate, because drug traffickers typically hire 
professional killers.

Some of the seven men arrested in connection with de la Torre's death were 
allegedly involved in the deaths of 14 others. Cossio said additional 
arrests have led to the detention of people suspected in at least 14 more 
deaths.

Victor Clark said that while killings have decreased, it's unlikely the 
trafficking has. Approximately 4,500 drug houses operate throughout the 
city, according to Clark, who bases his figures on interviews with drug 
dealers and local police.

Vince Rice, a spokesman with the Drug Enforcement Administration in San 
Diego, said the drop in murders could be the result of better cooperation 
between the United States and Mexico. Last week, Mexico's Supreme Court 
cleared the way for Arturo Paez, who is suspected of being a top Arellano 
lieutenant, to be extradited to the United States.

"I really do believe the cartels are worried and they are hunkering down 
and waiting to see what is going to happen," said Rice.

The cartel also could be taking a wait-and-see approach to President 
Vicente Fox, who took office in December. On Friday the Fox administration 
sent 700 federal police into Tijuana to crack down on the cartel.

"There may be sweeping changes throughout Mexico, and they are probably 
nervous and afraid of what he may do," Rice said. "They want to see what 
kind of government he will have, and then they will start to test him."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jo-D