U.S. Consulate employees in Tijuana told to "shelter in place" as violence escalates in border cities
The Mexican border cities of Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito and Ensenada were hit by gang violence that included vehicles being set ablaze and road blockades.
The U.S. Consulate in Tijuana instructed its employees "to shelter in place until further notice" around midnight because of the violence.
It was the third time this week Mexican cities have seen widespread arson and shootings by drug cartels. The gangs appear to be targeting stores, vehicles and innocent bystanders in response to disputes or attempts to capture gang members.
Tijuana officials said vehicles had been burned at about 10 points around the city, and Mayor Montserrat Caballero blamed it on disputes between drug gangs.
Caballero issued a public appeal to "organized crime," the term used in Mexico for drug cartels, to stop the growing trend of targeting innocent civilians.
"Today we are saying to the organized crime groups that are committing these crimes, that Tijuana is going to remain open and take care of its citizens, and we also ask them to settle their debts with those who didn't pay what they owe, not with families and hard-working citizens," Caballero said.
The extent of the violence was still unclear Saturday. Late Friday, the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana said in a statement that it "is aware of reports of multiple vehicle fires, roadblocks, and heavy police activity in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate."
The mayor's comment about remaining open was an apparent reference to the border city of Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, where some classes and public events were cancelled after similar violence on Thursday.
Alleged gang members went on a shooting spree in Ciudad Juarez, killing nine people, including four employees of a radio station, after a fight between rival gangs at a local prison left two inmates dead.
On Tuesday, drug cartel gunmen burned vehicles and businesses in the western states of Jalisco and Guanajuato in response to an attempt to arrest a high-ranking cartel leader of the Jalisco cartel, which the Department of Justice considers to be "one of the five most dangerous transnational criminal organizations in the world."
The cartel's leader, Nemesio Oseguera, "El Mencho," is among the most sought by Mexican and U.S. authorities. There was no indication Oseguera was present during Tuesday's clash.
The area around Tijuana, which borders southern California, is a lucrative drug-trafficking corridor long dominated by the Arellano Felix cartel but which has since become a battle ground between various gangs, including the Jalisco and Sinaloa cartels.
Speaking about the Ciudad Juarez violence Thursday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said: "They attacked the civilian, innocent population like a sort of revenge. It wasn't just a clash between two groups, but it got to the point where they began to shoot civilians, innocent people. That is the most unfortunate thing in this affair."
Four employees of the MegaRadio station who were broadcasting a live promotional event outside a pizza store in Ciudad Juarez were killed in the shootings.
Such random violence is not without precedent in Mexico.
In June of last year, a rival faction of the Gulf cartel entered the border city of Reynosa and killed 14 people the governor identified as "innocent citizens." The military responded and killed four suspected gunmen.
And cartels in Mexico frequently hijack vehicles and burn them to distract police or prevent them from pursuing gunmen.