TIJUANA, Mexico (Border Report) — Authorities in Tijuana arrested 80 people on Sunday on charges of theft and extortion allegedly perpetrated against pedestrians near the San Ysidro international border crossing, Zeta Tijuana reported.
The arrests came during a sweep conducted by the Tijuana municipal police in response to complaints by victims and by local chambers of commerce. “These are people who are not from here, who come to our city to extort Americans who come to enjoy our city and our state,” a police official told Zeta.
Two of the detainees also face drug possession charges; further police sweeps of the area near the San Ysidro port of entry into the United States can be expected, as Tijuana officials want to improve the safety and image of the area, authorities told Zeta.
Multiple killing at drug house caps bloody weekend in Juarez
JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) — Eighteen people lost their lives violently in Juarez this weekend, including two women who were shot to death and a 1-year-old baby who died from a beating, Diario de Juarez reported.
Four of the murders occurred inside a house in the Campestre Virrreyes neighborhood, where police said they found drug residue.
The weekend’s tally brings to 40 the number of people murdered here in the month of February, Diario reported.