Tijuana: Zona Norte the principal point of sale of drugs

Original article available at PSN
Translated by El Wachito

La Zona Norte, is not only a spot where bars profit from prostitution and the consumption of alcohol. The coordinator of the Subprocuraduria de Investigaciones Especiales of the PGJE, Miguel Angel Guerrero Castro revealed that la Zona Norte is the principal point of the sale of drug in the city and this generates conflict between members of the Sinaloa Cartel, Arellano Felix, Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, and drug traffickers that consider themselves independent in the sale and distribution of heroine and meth.

“Its all because of the local drug dealing, that the cartels have started a small scale war for the control and distribution of drugs and that’s what we are currently investigating”, stated Guerrero Castro.

The problem has grown to such magnitude, that in the middle of the fight for the control of the plaza the murder rate has increased.

“Its all because of the local drug dealing, that the cartels have started a small scale war for the control and distribution of drugs and that’s what we are currently investigating”, stated Guerrero Castro.

The high quantity of visitors and the bars, increases the demand for drugs and this turns into an opportunity for criminals.

“There is a war between the Cartel Arellano Felix, Sinaloa and Jalisco, and we all know that is because of the drug sale and the people that visit the area, that’s why the groups are fighting”, claimed Castro.

The murder rate increasesThe majority of murders that have been registered in the city are related to the small distribution of narcotics.
“We have found people dismembered, another person died in front a hotel with signs of injections, another dismembered last week, and another one the week before that one, and all of them involved in small scale drug dealing, two of them were deported immigrants”, affirm the government representative.

However, some of the ones that have died had association to a certain criminal group and had worked for other groups in the past.

“We have detected different characters that have changed their cartel affiliation and its not something new, nowadays the business is not about working for an specific cartel, its about working for the ones that pays them the most”.

In the transition of the control of the plaza, it has become evident that violence has escalated and therefore its urgent that the authorities conduct crime prevention duties.

“We all knew before that the famous “MONO” was the king and owner of the Zona Norta, then people from Sinaloa came and killed “el Mono”, then Sinaloa takes control of la Zona Norte and then allies and brothers of “El Mono” came back and took it, its clear that there is a small scale war in the area and while one group takes it, another one comes back and increases the rate of murder in an attempt to get it back”.

Personal comment from El Wachito: After the night of Saturday, September 24 of 2016, were an armed encounter between sicarios and Mexican police took place in La Zona Norte, there has been an increase of patrols conducted by several Mexican law enforcement agencies. Federal Police, Ministerial Police, Tourist Police, State Police, Municipal Police and even the Mexican Army now conduct frequent patrols in la Zona Norte. In many instances the Ministerial Police will conduct patrols in white pick up trucks, with tinted windows and no law enforcement insignia while wearing civilian clothes. Tensions in the area are high and Policeman will not hesitate to pull you over if you are deemed suspicious. There has been reports of Police abuse, specially from the State Police.

Even though there is a high presence of police, the drug sale is still highly visible during the day and night. Drug addicts roam the street and sometimes policeman do not bother because according to one officer “the most they can do is send them to jail, they will spend the night there and be free the next day”.

The drug sale inside the strip clubs and bars is noticeable. Sometimes waiters will offer you drugs or there will be a designated person appointed by a cartel to distribute drugs inside certain bar or club. Control of the sale of drugs in strip clubs and bars is not only limited to la Zona Norte. Several nightclubs in Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito also have their designated drug dealer who is backed by the waiters of the club to be the authorized dealer.

Maintain situational awareness when visiting nightclubs as several cartel members, sicarios, cartel workers, and Mexican law enforcement intelligence units frequently visit the nightclubs. In 2012, a woman was killed in the parking lot of a known night club in Tijuana called “El Alebrije” and another woman was shot outside “Las Micheladas”, which is a bar that frequently has live musicians that play “Narcocorridos”. In addition, I have received reports of an individual who suffered an attempted “levanton” (kidnapping), when leaving a nightclub after he engaged in a dispute with another person.