The US government has advised its personnel in Tijuana to avoid public spaces, seek shelter, and continue to follow local media reports as violence in the Mexican border city escalates.
According to Fox News, authorities in Mexico are investigating at least ten car fires in Tijuana, prompting US agencies to err on the side of caution and lock down its staff. The order was justified by’multiple car fires, roadblocks, and extensive police action in Tijuana, Mexicali, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate.
‘ The fighting started on Thursday in Ciudad Juarez, just over the border from El Paso.
Los Chapos, members of the famed Sinaloa Cartel commanded by Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman, and local organization Los Mexicles started squabbling, resulting in a melee that left two people dead and 20 wounded, according to the Times of San Diego.
The fighting then spilled out of the jail and onto Juarez’s streets, where gang members murdered nine more individuals, the majority of whom were civilians.
According to Fox News, Tijuana Mayor Montserrat Caballero Ramrez stated the national guard and police reserves are ready to deploy if required. The city’s continuous violence comes only months after the United States reported the discovery of a tunnel connecting Tijuana to a warehouse in San Diego.
The 1,700-foot ‘fully functioning’ tunnel is suspected of being used to carry narcotics into the US, including heroin and fentanyl.
According to officials, the hidden tube from Tijuana to San Diego had train and ventilation systems, power, and reinforced walls.
It is also 61 feet deep, according to Homeland Security Investigations investigators in May.
It was located near the Otay Mesa border crossing in San Diego, in a location where more than a dozen other sophisticated tunnels have been uncovered in the previous two decades.
Agents were spying on a ‘known drug stash home’ in National City, just south of downtown San Diego.
According to US police, it is uncertain how long the tunnel has been operational and how much narcotics, if any, have passed through unnoticed. In conjunction with the investigation, they confiscated 1,762 pounds of cocaine, 165 pounds of meth, and 3.5 pounds of heroin.
Six persons, ranging in age from 31 to 55, were charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine. All are from Southern California and have pled not guilty.
The tunnel is located in one of the most heavily protected sections of the border, demonstrating the limits of border fortifications.
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