tourist killed in tijuana

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US man, 79, beaten to death in Mexico while delivering donations to the poor

Rudy Lazo, who immigrated to the US from El Salvador in the 1980s, would regularly deliver clothes, food and toys to Tijuana

A 79-year-old American man who transported clothes, food and toys into Mexico to donate to the poor was beaten to death during a delivery trip in Tijuana, family members and authorities said.

Rudy Lazo’s killing during an apparent robbery in mid-April happened a couple of months after the US state department warned Americans to avoid Mexico, citing elevated kidnapping and homicide risks in areas including Baja California , the state Tijuana is in.

As his family said on NBC Los Angeles and Telemundo , Lazo moved to the US from El Salvador in the 1980s. He started a family, worked as a truck driver and settled in San Bernardino, California, but never forgot the financial struggles faced by people in other parts of the world.

Lazo frequently drove trucks packed with clothes, food, toys and other basic donations to Tijuana, about 125 miles (200km) from San Bernardino, then gave them to families in need.

“He was always a very generous person – helped anyone out,” Lazo’s son, Juan Carlos, told NBC Los Angeles.

Lazo’s family realized something was amiss when he didn’t return home from a donation run last month. Mexican authorities soon notified the family that he had been beaten to death and seemingly robbed of his truck as well as other belongings, none of which have been found.

Juan Carlos Lazo traveled to Mexico to identify his father’s body.

“What I didn’t tell him in life, I told him there with my heart: ‘Forgive me, and that in the end I didn’t let you down,’” the grieving son said, according to Telemundo.

Juan Carlo Lazo also said: “He didn’t deserve this. Actually, no human being deserves this.”

Authorities have not announced any arrests.

Lazo’s children told reporters that helping families in Tijuana meant so much to their father that he had plans to try to build a community center there.

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“He probably thought he wasn’t going to have problems because he was a senior citizen,” his daughter, Claudia Hernandez, told NBC.

The US state department advisory warning travelers to avoid Mexico came after a Los Angeles-area public defense attorney, Elliot Blair, died in suspicious circumstances while vacationing in Baja California.

An attorney for the family of Blair, 33, has said his skull was fractured and it appeared he had road rash on his skin. The injuries caused Blair’s family to wonder if he had been beaten and dragged despite Mexican authorities’ claiming he may have fallen from a hotel balcony, hours after the couple reportedly paid $160 to local police officers to let them go after they were pulled over for running a stop sign.

In March, two Americans accompanying a friend to a cosmetic abdominal surgery in Mexico died in a kidnapping near the border with Texas.

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Mexico investigates 4th killing at Tijuana hotel frequented by American accused of killing 3 women

August 11, 2023 / 2:45 PM PDT / AP

Mexican officials say they are investigating the death of a fourth woman at a Tijuana hotel frequented by a California man who is the subject of extradition proceedings to face charges in connection with the killings of at least three women in the border city across from San Diego.

Former Baja California Attorney General Ricardo Iván Carpio Sánchez said the case shared similarities to the other three killings and authorities are seeing if there is any tie to Bryant Rivera. The resident of Los Angeles suburb Downey was arrested July 6 on a femicide charge in the strangulation death of Angela Carolina Acosta Flores, whose body was found in a hotel room in Tijuana on Jan. 25, 2022.

Mexican officials have said once Rivera is extradited, they plan to present evidence to add charges for the deaths of two more women in Tijuana, including new evidence found when Rivera was arrested in California.

The Associated Press sent an email and left a voice message with Rivera's defense attorney, deputy federal public defender J. Alejandro Barrientos, who could not be immediately reached for comment.

Carpio Sánchez told reporters this week they are evaluating the evidence of potentially another case. He provided no other details, nor the date of the killing.

"It's the same hotel, the victim is a woman and there are similarities to the deaths of the other victims," said Carpio Sánchez, who also announced he was resigning from his post.

Acosta's mother told Mexican authorities her daughter worked next door to the Tijuana hotel where her body was found, at a strip bar called the Hong Kong Gentlemen's Club and occasionally as a sex worker. The mother told authorities she last heard from her daughter Jan. 24, 2022, when she texted her that she would be taking one of her clients into room 404 at the Las Cascadas Hotel for 30 minutes at around 10:15 p.m., according to court records. At 10:45 p.m., her mother said she started texting her daughter but never heard from her.

Court records show Acosta's boyfriend went to the club at 3 a.m. and was told by a worker there that Acosta had left with a customer who was a "gringo" named Bryant Rivera. After her daughter's body was found in room 404, Acosta's mother tracked her daughter's cellphone to an address in Riverside, California.

Security camera footage from the hotel captured a man matching Rivera's description and the victim entering room 404, according to court records.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection records show Rivera entered the United States on foot through the San Ysidro port of entry shortly after midnight on Jan. 25, 2022.

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American accused of killing 3 women in Tijuana arrested in California

This Jan. 25, 2022, still image provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Bryant Rivera of Downey, Calif, on a U.S. Customs and Border security camera. U.S. authorities on Thursday, July 6, 2023, arrested Rivera, accused of killing three women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and crossing back and forth across the border after each of the deaths that occurred over the course of nearly a year starting in 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)

This photo provided by the U.S. Department of Justice shows Bryant Rivera of Downey, Calif. On Thursday, July 6, 2023, U.S. authorities arrested Rivera, who is accused of killing three women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and crossing back and forth across the border after each of the deaths that occurred over the course of nearly a year starting in 2021. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. authorities have arrested a California man accused of killing three women in the Mexican border city of Tijuana and crossing back and forth across the border after each of the deaths that occurred over the course of nearly a year starting in 2021.

According to U.S. court records, 30-year-old Bryant Rivera, a resident of Los Angeles suburb Downey, was arrested July 6 on a femicide charge in the strangulation death of Angela Carolina Acosta Flores, whose body was found in a hotel room in Tijuana on Jan. 25, 2022.

Mexico plans to request his extradition in order to present evidence to add charges for the deaths of two more women in Tijuana, according to court filings. Ricardo Ivan Carpio, the attorney general of the state of Baja California, said they will include new evidence found when Rivera was arrested in California. It was not immediately known if Rivera had retained an attorney.

Rivera appeared in federal court Monday, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Stevenson ordered him to remain detained at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles for the duration of his extradition proceedings, according to Ciaran McEvoy, spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office. Mexico has 60 days to file a formal extradition request.

Acosta’s mother told Mexican authorities that her daughter worked next door to the Tijuana hotel, where her body was found, at a strip bar called the Hong Kong Gentlemen’s Club, and occasionally as a sex worker. The mother told authorities she last heard from her daughter on Jan. 24, 2022, when she texted her that she would be taking one of her clients into room 404 at the Las Cascadas Hotel for 30 minutes at around 10:15 p.m., according to court records. At 10:45 p.m., her mother said she started texting her daughter but never heard from her.

Court records show Acosta’s boyfriend went to the club at 3 a.m. and was told by a worker there that Acosta had left with a customer who was a “gringo” named Bryant Rivera. After her daughter’s body was found in room 404, Acosta’s mother tracked her daughter’s cell phone to an address in Riverside, California.

Security camera footage from the hotel captured a man matching Rivera’s description and the victim entering room 404, according to court records.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection records show Rivera entered the United States on foot through the San Ysidro port of entry shortly after midnight on Jan. 25, 2022.

Two Americans found dead in luxury hotel room in Mexico’s Baja California Sur

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Two Americans were found dead in their hotel room at a luxury resort in Baja California Sur, Mexico, according to authorities.

The victims were found around 9 p.m. Tuesday at Hyatt’s Rancho Pescadero, a boutique beachfront hotel in El Pescadero, a popular surf destination between Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas.

The bodies were found after a housekeeper knocked repeatedly without receiving an answer and heard a shower running, according to an internal police report obtained by The Times. Hotel staffers entered the room and found the body of a woman. In the bathroom, they found the body of a man on the shower floor, the report said.

Paramedics responded to a report of unconscious hotel guests and found the two dead of suspected gas inhalation , the Associated Press reported.

The victims were identified in the police report as John Heathco and Abby Lutz. According to the Baja California Sur attorney general’s office, Heathco was 41 and Lutz, a Newport Beach resident, was 28, ABC News reported .

“We are shocked and saddened to hear about the passing of our beloved Abby,” Lutz’s family said Thursday in a statement. “Abby had an adventurous spirit and a wonderfully kind heart. She loved to travel, see new places, and share her zeal for life with those around her.”

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They were on vacation in Mexico City. Then all three died of carbon monoxide poisoning in an Airbnb

Three Americans died in an Airbnb in Mexico City of carbon monoxide poisoning. One woman called her boyfriend saying she felt sick.

Nov. 10, 2022

The family organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to cover the costs of a funeral and transportation of her remains.

On the GoFundMe page, Gabrielle Slate, Lutz’s stepsister, wrote that Lutz and “her boyfriend thought they had food poisoning and went to the hospital to get treatment.”

After a few days, they had been told Lutz and her boyfriend were on the mend, Slate wrote.

“We received a phone call saying that they had passed away peacefully in their hotel room in their sleep,” Slate wrote. “We have been told it was due to improper venting of the resort and could be Carbon monoxide poisoning.”

John Heathco is listed as the founder of LES Labs, a California-based company that makes dietary supplements , on LinkedIn . A website for LES Labs lists a man named John Heathco as the founder.

Fentanyl-tainted pills now found in Mexican pharmacies from coast to coast

New testing by Times reporters has revealed that some pharmacies in cities across Mexico sell counterfeit medication tainted with fentanyl and methamphetamine.

June 14, 2023

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed the deaths of two U.S. citizens in Baja California Sur.

“We are closely monitoring local authorities’ investigation into the cause of death,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We stand ready to provide all appropriate consular assistance. Out of respect for the privacy of the families, we have nothing further to add at this time.”

The Baja California Sur attorney general‘s office said the victims had been dead for about 10 or 11 hours when they were found, ABC reported. There were no signs of foul play on the victims’ bodies. The attorney general‘s office said in a statement to ABC News that the cause of death was “intoxication by substance to be determined.”

Authorities have not confirmed the cause of death with Rancho Pescadero, hotel general manager Henar Gil said in a statement, calling the situation “a terrible tragedy” and adding that “our hearts are with the impacted families and loved ones.”

“The safety and security of our guests and colleagues is always a top priority,” Gil said. “We can confirm there was no evidence of violence related to this situation, and we are not aware of any threat to guests’ safety or well-being.”

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A Hyatt spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether rooms at Rancho Pescadero, which start at more than $600 a night, are equipped with carbon monoxide detectors.

Gas leaks from appliances and faulty lines are common across Mexico and have been linked to tourist deaths in the past.

In October, three Americans were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning at their Airbnb while on vacation in Mexico City.

In March 2022, an explosion caused by a gas leak killed two people and injured 18 in the tourist town of Playa del Carmen. In 2018, a family of four from Iowa was killed by gas poisoning in a condominium in a resort town an hour from Cancun.

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Is Baja safe? Should you drive? Things to know before you go

A guide to traveling responsibly in Baja California: what to bring, laws to know, what to do if you’re pulled over, where to find gas stations and other key advice.

March 15, 2023

Times staff writer Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.

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Alexandra E. Petri is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered trends and breaking news. She previously covered live news at the New York Times. A two-time reporting fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, she graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism and international studies.

Kate Linthicum is a foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times based in Mexico City.

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To live and die in Tijuana

Three worlds overlap in mexico’s new fentanyl capital, where violence and synthetic drugs are bound dangerously together. addicts, journalists and police navigate a city in disarray..

A dried-up canal slices through the heart of Tijuana, a streak of negative space in a city where every other square foot appears to be claimed. The canalización, as people call it, is a place now emblematic of the city’s ills, an underworld in plain sight. The headlines are daily:

“Another homicide in the canalización.”

“a boy executed in the canalización, in front of costco.”, “more than a thousand people found living in the canalización.”.

The chaos has spilled outward across Tijuana. There have been 1,900 homicides here this year so far, making it the deadliest city in Mexico. It is a place where language has adapted to new forms of violence, macabre and hyper-specific. The word “encobijado,” for instance: a murder victim wrapped in a blanket.

Propelling that violence is a shift in the drug trade. Tijuana has long been a major transit point for illicit goods into the United States: alcohol during Prohibition, waves of marijuana and cocaine after that. Now, it is a city of fentanyl. It is the most prolific trafficking hub into the United States for the drug and, increasingly, a city of users.

It is their lifeless bodies that paramedics find on the streets. They are just as frequently victims of overdoses as violence. The turf war between local drug dealers has provoked a nightly shock of killings.

The Washington Post followed the fentanyl epidemic from Mexican labs to U.S. streets.

Overview: From Mexican labs to U.S. streets, a lethal pipeline

Washington faltered as fentanyl gripped America

The crisis has penetrated unlikely parts of Tijuana. Fentanyl labs have been disguised as piñata shops. Traffickers have turned modern townhouses into drug warehouses.

Men emerge, zombielike, between downtown restaurants, seeking available drugs wherever they can find them.

He woke up next to a pile of trash two blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, on a patch of sidewalk that has been claimed by this city’s fentanyl addicts, almost all of them deportees from the United States.

José González folded his blanket on the concrete and checked to see whether anything had been stolen from him while he slept. Most of the men around him — he’s careful not to call them friends — had already taken their first hit of the day. They stared blankly ahead or at the ground, oblivious while José inventoried his things.

“This goddamn place,” he said.

José had been the starting right tackle at Redlands High School outside of San Bernardino, Calif., a teenager who had passed as all-American until his friends learned that he was undocumented, brought to the United States as a 4-year-old. By the time he was deported at 23 for selling drugs, he had a girlfriend and a daughter in San Bernardino. His English was far better than his Spanish.

Not that anyone in Tijuana cared about his biography. Not the cops, who had arrested him 12 times for violations as minor as loitering, sending him to jail for a day or two at a time. Not his junkie neighbors, who had once again, it seemed, stolen his stuff while he slept.

He had remained here after being deported in 2013 to be close to his daughter in California. He kicked his drug habit. He got a job at a call center. He bought a closet full of button-down shirts.

But after a few months — alone and depressed — he began using again. At first, it was a few hits of heroin every few days before work. By 2020, though, fentanyl had displaced almost every other drug in Tijuana.

The first time he tried fentanyl had been a revelation; a shimmering crack in the universe into which he tumbled. Since then, addiction had reordered his life. He sometimes spoke of his own descent as if it were happening to someone else, a vortex of bad decisions that at 32 he couldn’t pull himself out of.

“Why would my daughter want to visit her drug addict father?” he asked. She had visited him once and never came back. “What the hell am I doing here?”

It was a Friday morning. Children in their school uniforms walked by José’s encampment on their way to school. He had just enough fentanyl to avoid the ache of withdrawal. Because he’d run out of visible veins, he asked a friend to inject the needle in his neck. He bent down to receive it and put his hands on his knees while the high rushed in.

In another five hours, he would be strung out, hurting for another hit. He needed to make 100 pesos (about $5) to buy enough drugs to fill another syringe. He started loading his backpack full of scavenged items to sell in downtown Tijuana: iPhone cases, a calculator, a dictionary, a used pair of shorts.

Every day was the same cycle, a hustle he had regimented. Make enough cash to buy drugs; do the drugs; maybe find some food; start over again. This day was no different.

Except it happened to be a particularly hot one, and the smell of trash wafted over José’s patch of sidewalk.

Except he was losing weight, his pants slipping off his waist.

Except for a more immediate problem: what José had for sale — much of it was garbage.

He threw on his black backpack, its zipper broken, and walked past the row of encampments that have sprung up on the outskirts of downtown Tijuana. A block of strip clubs and bars glittered in the distance.

His best chance at earning the 100 pesos, he thought, was a Victoria’s Secret pouch he had found with some skin-care products. The words “Love Made Me Do It” were scrawled below the zipper. He headed to a block lined with prostitutes and presented it to the women, who fanned themselves in the shade. Most of them shook their heads at José’s attempt. Some just stared ahead blankly.

“They think they’re too good for me,” he said. “But I’m offering them a really good deal.”

He walked across the street and carefully arranged his wares on a black tarp. He pulled out used medical goggles, an extension cord, watch bands, an array of used phone cases. Around him, other people had set up their own items for sale.

A young man came up to him.

“You know where I can score?” he asked.

José could tell he was a meth user, so he told the man where the meth dealers worked.

He had come to know the city’s panorama of addicts: where different kinds of junkies scored their drugs, how to treat them if they overdosed. It happened all the time.

He had saved four people from fentanyl overdoses by using naloxone, a medication that reverses the effect of opioids. It is regulated as a controlled substance by the Mexican government and is almost impossible to find legally outside of several hospitals. But American nongovernmental organizations began smuggling it into Tijuana as overdoses mounted.

José usually kept a bottle in his pocket. Even though he had built up a tolerance to fentanyl, he knew one day he might be the one who needed to be revived.

Hours passed with barely any customer interest. He could feel his body asking for another hit. He decided to return to his encampment for a few items he had left behind, hoping they would improve his sale. He packed everything up. Walking back, he started to feel worse.

José paused at an intersection, his forehead dotted with sweat.

“I don’t know what the f--- to do,” he said.

“Sometimes I just want to turn myself into a rehab. I’m getting tired of this.”

He scratched his left forearm, with the tattoo of his daughter’s face as a 4-year-old, when he last saw her. She was 12 now. A different person, he thought.

He kept walking, now a little slower, trying to sell a few things on the way back to his block. A woman stopped him, introduced herself and asked a question.

“Why do you need the money?”

“To be honest,” he said, “for a cure,” referring to the fentanyl hit.

“You’re too young to be using,” she said. “You know, they have meetings to help people with problems like that, three times a week.”

José thanked her and started walking away. It was the kind of intervention that rarely occurred in this part of Tijuana.

He said her name out loud: “Beatriz.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said, “even meeting her.”

He had tried twice to get clean, but maybe, he thought, it was time to try again.

Or he could work the streets again, trying to sell more stuff. He could let the universe decide if he deserved another hit.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said again, even though it was rarely clear what the reason was.

The text message came from a source in the local police: A car was burning along the Tijuana highway that traces the Pacific Ocean. There was a body in the back seat — another apparent homicide.

Inés García Ramos received the tips multiple times a day as the editor of Punto Norte, one of the city’s only independent newspapers. She chronicled the drumbeat of violent crimes carried out not just to kill, but to impress and intimidate. It was as if the murderers of Tijuana were competing against one another to see who could commit the most gruesome acts.

García, 33, was born in Los Angeles, but grew up here, the daughter of a hairdresser whose clients were the wives and girlfriends of the city’s drug-trafficking elite. Making sense of Tijuana’s spasm of violence became her central journalistic objective.

“Is there anything else you want to do?” García’s mother pleaded.

There still wasn’t.

And so, just before sunset, she drove toward the burning SUV. She parked on the side of the highway. Then García inched closer, until she could make out the charred body in the back seat. She took out her cellphone and began broadcasting on Facebook Live.

“This is the 1,569th murder this year,” she said.

Her viewers shot messages back asking for more details. Some of them had relatives who had disappeared and were wondering if the victim might be their loved one.

“So far we don’t have any details on the deceased,” García told her audience.

What she didn’t say: Most likely, she never would. The killing would almost certainly not be solved; only about 2 percent of crimes in Mexico are each year.

But García had her own explanation for the city’s soaring homicide rate. She had watched as the spike in violent crime mirrored the surge in the trafficking of synthetic drugs. She had written about how large quantities of fentanyl remained on this side of the border, too, turning swaths of the city into open-air drug markets.

The violence and the drugs — she was sure they were connected. For over a year, she had been looking for a way to document that link. García dispatched Punto Norte photojournalists across Tijuana to investigate the city’s wave of crime.

Arturo Rosales and Margarito Martínez Esquivel photographed the city nearly every night, chronicling the nonstop violence after sunset.

Martínez was Punto Norte’s first photographer. He started shooting crime scenes by accident in 2003, snapping a few photos of a killing he happened upon. It was a natural fit: Martínez quickly became the heart of the city’s press corps, his camera always in the passenger seat. Rosales was a taxi driver who learned from Martínez, publishing his photos on Facebook until he got his own contract.

In January, at 49, Martínez was killed. He was gunned down while he sat in his beige Ford Escort outside his home. Witnesses saw a man shoot him and flee the scene. Martínez’s wife and teenage daughter found him lying on the ground.

The slaying marked the beginning of another year of historic violence for Mexican journalists. Since 2019, 50 journalists have been killed in Mexico, making it the most dangerous country in the world for media workers.

The day after the killing, García and her colleagues gathered in their unmarked newsroom above a shop selling quinceañera dresses. An undercover security guard monitored the perimeter.

They decided they needed to find out who was behind Martínez’s death.

Their run of coverage began in January when García and her colleagues published a story about the gun used to kill Martínez, tracing it to several other homicides across the city.

“The 9mm pistol that took his life had been used in various crimes related to territorial disputes between drug dealers,” the Punto Norte team wrote, “and used by criminals who had been detained over and over again, but were set free to continue committing homicides.”

In Martínez’s slaying, the journalists saw a concrete example of how drug trafficking, drug use and soaring violence were all linked.

In March, at the first hearing in Martínez’s case, García was the only journalist in attendance. The prosecutor read aloud the text message exchange between the men who allegedly ordered Martínez’s killing, a criminal network that reported to David López Jiménez, known as “El Cabo 20,” who had been affiliated with the Arellano Félix and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

“I need a soldier to commit murder,” José Heriberto, one of López Jiménez’s affiliates, said in a message. “He’ll be paid 20,000 pesos [about $1,000].”

Listening to the messages, García noticed that the men ordering Martínez’s killing kept two conversations open at the same time. One was about the homicide, and the other was about drug dealing.

“Today is Saturday, a good day for sales,” Christian Adán, another member of the group, wrote to Heriberto, referring to their local drug business.

Then the conversation immediately returned to the killing.

“Send me Margarito’s location,” Heriberto responded.

García stopped taking notes and sighed.

“It just shows you how closely these two crimes are linked,” she said. “Selling drugs and killing people.”

She had seen more proof of that link in February, when Mexican authorities arrested 10 suspects in the case. In the same raid, they also seized a stash of drugs that included cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines.

López Jiménez, she learned, had been detained and released six times before he allegedly arranged Martínez’s killing, a case study in the way the judicial system cowers before powerful criminals. Four of those arrests were related to selling drugs, including a charge that he had operated a drug laboratory in central Tijuana. He was arrested in August for arms possession; prosecutors later said he was responsible for Martínez’s killing.

There was something both satisfying and heart-rending about getting to the bottom of the crime, García said. It happened so rarely in Mexico. Prosecutors appeared to take Martínez’s case more seriously because of the amount of attention it received, including from the U.S. government.

The case is ongoing, but the court dates are infrequent. García’s days are once again consumed mostly by routine crime coverage, like the story of the charred corpse in the back of the SUV.

After she ended her Facebook Live segment, the waves crashing behind her, García ran through the possibilities of what happened to the victim in the back seat. Maybe it was the violent end to a lover’s quarrel. Or a drug dealer deposing his rival.

She would try to follow up with her sources the next day. She would try to get more details on the crime.

But by then, she knew, there would be another homicide to cover; another alert on the police scanner of an overdose death; another load of synthetic drugs seized at the scene of another violent assault, never to be solved.

The drugs arrived in a garage in an upscale Tijuana neighborhood, blocks of crystal meth wrapped in plastic in the bed of a pickup truck, kitchen containers of fentanyl in the back seat.

“Where does this stuff go?” asked one of the movers, clutching a tower of plastic containers with “fentanyl” scrawled in black marker on the side.

He was an agent from the Mexican attorney general’s office, responsible for seizing and holding drugs.

He took a deep breath. The smell from inside the garage was overpowering — enough to knock out a first-timer. It was already full of thousands of pounds of fentanyl, meth, marijuana and heroin.

“Oof,” he grunted.

But there was a more immediate problem for the movers. There was barely any room for the newest load.

The drugs arrive there almost every day from the clandestine laboratories and stash houses that now pepper Tijuana. Others were manufactured farther south, in the state of Sinaloa, and were moved through the city on their way to the border.

The government’s garage of seized narcotics, federal authorities say, is proof of their efforts to stop the flow of drugs and secure evidence for ongoing trials. It fills so quickly that once a month, to make more room, they take thousands of pounds of drugs to a desolate military outpost and set them on fire.

But the fire is as much a spectacle as it is a way to destroy drugs. Local journalists are invited to photograph the agents, who pose in front of the flames.

García has gone several times, watching a plume of narco-smoke rise over the city. Each time, she wondered: “Who are these images meant for?”

Were they an attempt to assure the citizens of Tijuana or prove to the Americans that Mexico was stemming the flow of drugs?

The shift in fentanyl production from China to Mexico in the past several years has flooded the border with synthetic drugs . Seizing labs and narcotics would be a monumental task for any law enforcement agency. But in parts of Mexico, where organized crime often has more power than the government, the more important question has become: Are authorities even trying?

In almost no time, after each incineration, the garage is full again.

And the cartels know exactly where it is. Members of the Jalisco New Generation cartel last year released a video of several gunmen driving by the warehouse. One of them held a gold-plated rifle. It quickly went viral.

“We’re in Tijuana, sons of bitches,” they said. “We’re hunting you down, sons of bitches.”

Fentanyl seizures at the southern border

On four separate high-profile raids, Washington Post reporters watched as Mexican authorities arrived at the alleged homes of fentanyl traffickers and manufacturers, only to find them empty.

“The target left for Sinaloa yesterday apparently,” said one agent, walking back to his car after the most recent of those failed busts, in October.

On their better days, the agents sometimes find pill presses imported from China and barrels full of chemicals used to make fentanyl . The pill presses aren’t illegal; many of them are purchased on the Chinese retail website Alibaba.

After they’re seized, authorities send them to the same warehouse where the piles of drugs are kept. In many cases this evidence is not brought to trial.

It can take days or weeks to get a search warrant from Mexican judges. That’s enough time for information about a planned raid to leak to drug traffickers. Those trafficking synthetic drugs like fentanyl are the least likely to be caught.

That’s in part because of how easy it is to produce and move the pills, which are small and odorless. They are labeled “M-30” — counterfeit versions of the oxycodone pills manufactured by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, based in St. Louis.

Between May 2013 and June this year, the federal government made 462 arrests for fentanyl-related crimes, according to a freedom-of-information request, compared with 116,689 arrests for producing, trafficking or selling large quantities of other drugs during that same time period. In many cases, Mexican authorities seized large loads of fentanyl without arresting anyone.

In October, federal police stopped a white passenger van loaded with 150,000 fentanyl pills and 1,500 pounds of meth outside Ensenada. Authorities watched as the traffickers fled the scene.

“The [traffickers] chose to leave the vehicle when they identified the presence of authorities, dispersing in different directions,” the attorney general’s office wrote in a press release.

Fentanyl’s deadly surge

The power that drug-trafficking organizations wield is normally difficult to assess. But periodically the scale becomes clear, an invisible army suddenly emerging to strike.

That’s what happened on the afternoon of Aug. 12 in Tijuana. It had begun as an uneventful day in the attorney general’s office, where officers catalogued their most recent fentanyl seizure. Before sunset, the calls started coming in.

Criminals had stolen a public bus and set it on fire. Then a taxi. Then another bus. Within minutes, Tijuana was riddled with narcobloqueos, or cartel road blocks, paralyzing the city and effectively shuttering the world’s busiest land border crossing.

“We’re going to create mayhem so the f---ing government frees our people,” a message that circulated on WhatsApp said. “We’re the Jalisco New Generation cartel. We don’t want to hurt good people, but it’s best they don’t go outside. We’re going to attack anyone we see on the streets these days.”

By midnight, 42 vehicles had been set aflame. It was a rare moment when all of Tijuana was jolted by the same event. The U.S. government ordered diplomats to shelter in place. Factory workers slept under conveyor belts. Bus drivers abandoned their buses for fear that their vehicles would be hijacked.

García covered it live.

“We’ve never seen anything like this before,” she said in one broadcast.

José González could see the smoke rising from his encampment near downtown Tijuana. At first, he assumed it was a car accident or a house fire. Then someone nudged him.

“Narcos,” the man said, pointing to the smoke.

José considered the connection between the men who sold him tiny bags of fentanyl powder and those who had just set the city on fire. It was like seeing the true size and power of a machine he knew only superficially.

It was late afternoon when José returned to downtown Tijuana, with more items to sell.

The day’s second attempt to earn 100 pesos began. He added a few new products to his tarp: plastic bags of granola, a few DVDs, two pairs of shoes, a red hat.

He displayed them meticulously on Calle Artículo 123, which had been converted to an open-air market.

He knew his prospects were still bad. The sun was setting and tourists were beginning to pour into Tijuana from across the border. But they didn’t want what he was selling.

They were mostly here for cocktails and cheap tacos and strip clubs.

José leaned against a car and watched the crowds pass by. Other addicts pitched their junk to a mostly uninterested clientele, shouting out prices. José’s approach was more Zen. If they want it, he thought, they’ll come.

Each sale would tilt the scale toward his next hit of fentanyl. Or he would strike out.

“Everything happens for a reason,” he said.

It might be a sign that he should drag himself to rehab.

Then a man bought a black tank top for 20 pesos. A woman came up and purchased two bags of granola for 20 pesos each.

José looked at them in disbelief.

“It’s always the things you least expect to sell,” he said after they walked away.

Suddenly, he had 60 pesos.

Then a man bought his last two bags of granola. A woman bought a light switch.

One hundred ten pesos in five minutes.

The streak of luck felt impossible.

“Enough to get cured,” he said, and he began rolling up the tarp.

He took a left at a convenience store and met one of his dealers outside a house. He walked away with two tiny bags: one of fentanyl and one of crystal meth. It was his cocktail of choice, which he believed smoothed out the high.

He needed someone to help him shoot up. Normally he would offer a volunteer a taste of his supply for help. But when he walked up to his encampment, the men were either semiconscious or unwilling to help.

“You can’t count on anyone in this place,” he said.

It was getting dark and the neighborhood looked even bleaker. Police cars streaked by with their sirens on.

José wandered toward another heap of garbage next to an alley. An older man, also high, was picking through the trash. José tapped him on the shoulder and asked if he would help with the needle.

Across the street, an open-air church service had begun. Families in folding chairs prayed for the junkies. The voice of the pastor blared through loudspeakers.

“God loves you,” he said. “You are the children of God.”

José got on his knees, peering down solemnly.

The needle went in, just above the collar of his T-shirt. The hit was too much for him. He grabbed his knees like he had finished a sprint.

“My heart,” he said to the old man.

“I messed up the dosage,” he said.

He was usually careful. He had only overdosed once, nothing compared with most of the other men.

He took a few deep breaths and swallowed hard.

“I’m okay now,” he said, his eyes wide. He didn’t look okay.

He threw his backpack over his shoulder. He walked back toward the lights of downtown. He had to find a way to make another 100 pesos.

About this story

Reporting by Kevin Sieff . Steven Rich and Alejandra Ibarra Chaoul also contributed to this report. Photography by Salwan Georges . Video by Erin Patrick O’Connor .

Design and development by Rekha Tenjarla . Additional design and development by Allison Mann , Laura Padilla Castellanos and Tyler Remmel . Data analysis by Steven Rich .

Reem Akkad , Jessica Koscielniak, Robert Miller , Ann Gerhart , Matthew Callahan and Courtney Kan were the lead editors. Additional editing by Sarah Childress , Christian Font , Meghan Hoyer , Jai-Leen James , Jordan Melendrez and Frances Moody .

Additional support from Steven Bohner, Sarah Dunton , Jenna Lief, Monika Mathur , Angel Mendoza, Sarah Murray, Ben Pillow , Sarah Pineda, Andrea Platten , Garland Potts , Kyley Schultz , Casey Silvestri , John Taylor and Mael Vallejo.

Additional photos and videos by Omar Rosette/Punto Norte, Jorge Duenes/Reuters, Carlos Moreno/Sipa via AP Images and the Mexican attorney general’s office.

In a seven-part investigation, The Washington Post followed the fentanyl epidemic from Mexican labs to U.S. streets.

Methodology

The Post analyzed data from a range of sources to measure the rise of fentanyl in the United States and Mexico. Among other topics, reporters compiled data on drug seizures, overdose deaths and reversals, border crossings and fentanyl potency.

The data was collected from more than three dozen federal, state and local sources across the United States and Mexico. For example, for the count of overdose deaths in the United States, The Post used mortality data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To measure data seizures along Route 15 in Mexico, reporters standardized multiple data sets from agencies including the Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional, Fiscalía General de la República, Secretaría de Marina and the Guardia Nacional.

Reporters made open-records requests in both countries, retrieved data from government websites to create data sets, and obtained and analyzed seizure data from High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, run by the White House’s “drug czar,” by submitting a detailed research proposal to gain access.

How the U.S. lost a key ally in Mexico as fentanyl took off

A DEA agent tracked the source of fentanyl in Utah to a Mexican cartel

Inside the daunting hunt for the ingredients of fentanyl and meth

Visual story: To live and die in Tijuana

Five down in Apt. 307: Mass fentanyl deaths test a Colorado prosecutor

Why is fentanyl so dangerous?

Read the Opioid Files investigation

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The Americas

Reporting on your colleagues' murders changes how you work.

Amy Isackson

Mano Sundaresan

Patrick Jarenwattananon

Asma Khalid

Journalists and supporters hold signs as they protest the murders of their colleagues Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martinez in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The sign says, "Journalism at risk. Don't kill the truth." GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Journalists and supporters hold signs as they protest the murders of their colleagues Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martinez in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. The sign says, "Journalism at risk. Don't kill the truth."

"I fear for my life."

That's what reporter Lourdes Maldonado told Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador during a press conference nearly three years ago.

“Temo por mi vida”, le dijo Lourdes Maldonado al presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador, en una mañanera en 2019. Este domingo 23 de enero, la periodista fue asesinada en Tijuana. #VideosLaJornada pic.twitter.com/f7UxTpheQl — La Jornada (@lajornadaonline) January 24, 2022

Last Sunday night, Maldonado was shot dead outside of her home in Tijuana.

She is the second journalist to be murdered in the city in less than a week — the third killed in Mexico already this year — which has cast a pall on reporters there, as they take photos of their colleagues' dead bodies and write about and investigate their deaths.

While the motives for the killings are not clear, it's prompting other journalists in Tijuana to take stock.

Numb to violence

"This has been a very difficult week, and we have been doing a lot of soul searching here in our newsroom, just because we are so used to violence," Vicente Calderon, an independent reporter in Tijuana who directs Tijuanapress.com, told NPR's All Things Considered .

"We know these guys. We shared time and we talked during press conferences, at crime scenes and at other stories. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm really processing my feelings right now because I'm just not that shocked yet. You kind of learn to deal with violence because you are covering it on a daily basis."

Vicente Calderon, who directs Tijuanapress.com, makes an altar on Day of the Dead each year to honor his colleagues who have died. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers Mexico to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter. Leonardo Ortiz/Tijuanapress.com hide caption

Vicente Calderon, who directs Tijuanapress.com, makes an altar on Day of the Dead each year to honor his colleagues who have died. The Committee to Protect Journalists considers Mexico to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a reporter.

More than 1,900 people were killed in Tijuana just last year. That's one of the highest annual body counts for any city in the country.

On Tuesday evening, thousands of journalists took to the streets in cities across Mexico to express their outrage and grief over the journalists' killings.

Calderon says in the wake of the murders of his colleagues, reporters in Tijuana are trying to be more conscious of their surroundings, and just more alert. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time that we are facing this," he lamented. "In 1988, [I was] doing the same, demanding justice for another colleague gunned down. And here we are again in 2022."

In 1988, Hector "Gato" Felix Miranda, an editor for the crusading weekly publication Zeta was ambushed on his way to work. Felix was often critical of Tijuana authorities and prominent businessmen.

A person holds a rose and a candle as journalists and supporters protest the murders of their colleagues Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martinez, in front of the federal prosecutors building in Tijuana. Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

A person holds a rose and a candle as journalists and supporters protest the murders of their colleagues Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martinez, in front of the federal prosecutors building in Tijuana.

Even in a city with a high number of murders in recent years, the killing of two journalists in less than a week is unprecedented. More broadly, Mexico is one of the most dangerous places in the world for reporters, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The group counts nine reporters killed there last year, though it's not clear if all were targeted for their work.

Calderon said he feels afraid in the face of the violence, but he cannot let fear derail his work. "I'm afraid there's no guarantees for a regular level of journalism. But, still, we find ways to produce our stories. Sometimes we have to hold it for some time. Sometimes we have to look for other avenues to publish it without being linked to that particular story."

"Luby" and "4-4"

Maldonado, the reporter who was killed last Sunday night and was affectionately known as "Luby", had worked for various media outlets in Tijuana for decades. She had recently won a protracted labor dispute with a previous employer, PSN, a media company owned by the former governor of Baja California, Jaime Bonilla. Maldonado sued Bonilla's company for $20,000 in back wages after she was improperly fired.

Two days before her death, she was happy and looked forward to gaining access to some of PSN's accounting records, as granted by a recent court ruling in her favor, according to El Sol newspaper. However, she told the Tijuana-based outlet that she was also concerned about what she would find in the papers. Possessing proof of malfeasance by the ex-governor could put her in danger.

Bonilla has denied any involvement in Maldonado's murder .

Latin America

Family and colleagues of a mexican crime photographer gather to pay final respects.

Photographer Margarito Martinez was killed six days earlier as he got into his car outside his home in Tijuana to head to a crime scene. He'd made a career, over two decades, of photographing grisly murders in the city at all hours. He also worked as a "fixer" for many international media outlets.

Relatives and friends of photojournalist Margarito Martinez mourn graveside in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Guillermo Arias/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Relatives and friends of photojournalist Margarito Martinez mourn graveside in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico.

Martinez's nickname was "4-4", like the shorthand police use over their radios, for his signature way of letting his colleagues know when it was safe to come to a crime scene. He was often the first to arrive. Martinez had recently had a public spat with a man who posts about local crime on social media. The crime blogger had accused Martinez of running social media sites on behalf of a criminal group.

Reporters want answers

Authorities have said they're investigating both murders. They have not said whether Martinez and Maldonado were targeted because they were journalists.

Reporter Calderon said journalists in Tijuana want answers. "We need to keep the pressure on the authorities to investigate that possibility. ... We need to be very cautious and mindful that there are many other reasons. ... We need to be responsible and ethical in that sense," cautioned Calderon.

Both Martinez and Maldonado had reportedly asked for state police protection. Calderon said that can come in many forms. "A panic button in your home, that she [Maldonado] apparently did have, a police escort, they can even pull you out of the city to a safer place. But, there's a wide perception that the mechanism is not good enough. I mean, several of our colleagues in Mexico have been killed while being part of the mechanism of protection for journalists."

View of new common graves —needed due to the increase in the number of murders in late 2019 — at a cemetery in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on November 22, 2019. GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

View of new common graves —needed due to the increase in the number of murders in late 2019 — at a cemetery in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, on November 22, 2019.

Calderon said part of the problem was the violence was not just against journalists. "The problem is that violence is against everybody and it's very easy to kill somebody and not face consequences in this country."

Only about 2% of murders in Mexico are ever solved.

Investigative, data-driven journalism

Traveling to Tijuana or Rosarito? US issues warning for Americans headed to Baja California 

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The U.S. Embassy in Mexico warned Americans traveling to Tijuana and Rosarito of heightened risk for violence between cartels after authorities announced the arrest of a high-ranking cartel leader last week. 

In the alert from July 4, the U.S. Consulate General in Tijuana said there was “potential for confrontations between criminal organizations and Mexican security forces” and that Americans should expect to find increased Mexican law enforcement in the cities. 

“Criminal organization assassinations and territorial disputes can result in bystanders being injured or killed,” the Consulate said in the release. 

Despite the warnings, popular tourist areas in Baja California including Rosarito and parts of Tijuana remain mostly safe from cartel crime or violence against American travelers, according to crime and security experts.

Why this matters

Millions of Americans travel to Mexico each year. Experts said travelers who stay in tourist areas of Baja California are at a low risk for cartel violence and crime.

The Department of State recorded 22 homicides among Americans in Baja California in 2021, according to data on its website . There were 15 in 2020, 13 in 2019 and 19 in 2018. 

U.S. officials did not confirm the name of the alleged cartel leader whose arrest prompted the security alert. 

U.S. Department of State officials also did not answer questions about how long the security alert would be in effect, but said the alerts are issued “as needed to notify U.S. citizens of specific events and changes happening locally, in real time.”

Apart from the security alert, the U.S. Department of State ranks Baja California at a Level 3 for travel advisories, meaning Americans should “reconsider travel” to the state due to crime, kidnapping and a “high number of homicides in the non-tourist areas of Tijuana.” 

The Department of State recommended travelers “stay on main highways and avoid remote locations.”

The press office for the Baja California governor did not return a request for comment.

What’s causing the violence? Where is it happening?

Victor Clark Alfaro, a lecturer in Latin American Studies at San Diego State University, said most cartel violence happens outside of the “bubble” of tourist areas for distinct reasons.

“Simply because organized crime is, after all, an enterprise. They’re businesses, they’re ultra-capitalist enterprises,” Clark Alfaro said in Spanish. “So they’re not going to generate violence in tourist areas because they know perfectly that it would be counterproductive to their own businesses.”

That means touristy areas like Zona Río and Avenida Revolución in Tijuana and Rosarito are generally free from the violence, Clark Alfaro said.

“There have been some incidents in tourist areas, but the violence that we, Tijuanenses, live with is not precisely there. It’s outside of those areas,” Clark Alfaro said.

Several cartels regularly battle for control over Baja California to sell and export drugs to the U.S. The July 2 arrest meant a vacant position among cartel leadership, which Clark Alfaro said likely has already been filled.

Who’s at risk? How can travelers protect themselves?

The U.S. Consulate alert recommended American travelers to do the following while visiting Tijuana and Rosarito: 

• Keep watch of your surroundings
• Be vigilant and “keep a low profile” 
• Check local new outlets for updates 
• Call 911 in case of emergency 
• Have “personal security plans” 
• Listen to local authorities 

Clark Alfaro said both cartel members and innocent citizens caught in the crossfire can be victims of cartel violence. 

But he doesn’t see a high risk for Americans in the touristy areas of Tijuana and Rosarito since the violence typically does not happen there.

The prominent arrest and Fourth of July warning from the U.S. did not stop Americans from traveling to Rosarito, a popular tourist destination about 45 minutes south of the border over the holiday weekend, according to the local mayor, Araceli Brown, who spoke to Esquina 32 . 

Roberto Quijano Sosa, president of the Citizen Council on Public Security in Baja California , said the type of alert issued by the U.S. earlier this month isn’t all that uncommon.

Since the arrest, he said there has not been the type of violent confrontation from the cartel’s supporters that Quijano Sosa and others expected. 

So far, the travel advisory hasn’t affected cross-border travel and commerce all that much, he said. 

“We have thousands and thousands of Americans coming to Tijuana every day, not only for business, [but] to go to the doctor, meeting friends, attend a lunch meeting, or things like that,” he added. 

“It hasn’t affected the day to day atmosphere in our communities.”

Type of Content

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Sofía Mejías-Pascoe Investigative Reporter – Border and Immigration Investigative Reporter – Border and Immigration

Sofía Mejías-Pascoe is a border and immigration reporter covering the U.S.-Mexico region and the people who live, work and pass through the area. Mejías-Pascoe was previously a general assignment reporter and intern with inewsource, where she covered the pandemic’s toll inside prisons and detention... More by Sofía Mejías-Pascoe

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Mexico's surge in violence keeps some city streets deserted as tourists warned against travel

The U.S. Consulate is warning Americans against travel in certain parts of Mexico including Baja California amid a surge in drug cartel violence.

At least 11 people have been killed, stores have been set on fire, and cars and buses have been hijacked.

Some cities, like Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, are faced with nearly deserted streets as residents are afraid to move around.

"If you have no business coming down in Tijuana please stay at home," said Roger Blacksmith of Tijuana. "I mean there's a big concern for public safety because we don't really know what's going to happen next."

Authorities in the western Mexican state of Michoacán arrested 167 alleged members of a criminal drug gang. Hundreds of weapons were seized.

Criminals have set up roadblocks.

RELATED: Tijuana hit by gang violence that included vehicles being set ablaze and road blockades

It was the third time this week Mexican cities have seen widespread arson and shootings by drug cartels. The gangs appear to also be targeting innocent bystanders.

"It's terrifying," said Paulina Gómez-Wulschner, a journalist in Mexico. "People don't even want to leave their homes. They kind of decided to stay home during this weekend because of the threat of cartel gangs."

Some of the worst violence is in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso. Officials say gang members killed nine people, including four employees of a radio station.

Roberto Fierro, the prosecutor from the state of Chihuahua, said "Authorities are working to recover all the space that belongs to us and that organized crime is trying to take away. We will not rest until we re-establish order and we will use all the necessary resources to achieve it."

Officials say the area around Tijuana is one of the biggest drug corridors. It's also become a battleground between various drug gangs.

The effects of the travel warnings are showing.

"Yesterday they implemented the curfew and if you look at the border, the busiest border in the whole world, there is so little going on," said Franco Hogan, a San Diego resident.

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Tijuana’s tourism is booming even as the homicide rate spikes.

Soldiers, sailors and policemen patrol Tijuana's busting nightlife scene and surrounding areas. This image was taken in Rosarito, a beach resort town just south of Tijuana.

Offering vibrant culture and an active gastronomic scene, Tijuana's main avenues are full of tourists looking for bars and clubs.

Heroin addicts camped in a dried-up canal receive clean needles and Naloxone capsules from social workers.

Law enforcement officials patrol a beach in Tijuana at night, finding a dead pig in the sand.

To relieve overcrowding at the Tijuana morgue, city officials passed a law that allows bodies to be moved to a mass grave after five days.

Many tourists want to see US President Donald Trump's border wall prototypes, which are only visible from the Mexican side of the border.

Derek Chinn takes tourists on a guided tour through various cultural sites in Tijuana, away from the typical vacation spots.

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'You only get one body': Mexico attack, recent deaths highlight risks of medical tourism

A Black woman who reportedly traveled to Mexico to receive a tummy tuck was abducted with three other people in an attack that experts say highlights the risks of going abroad for more affordable medical care.

The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said in a statement that “unknown assailants” kidnapped the four Americans at gunpoint “in an incident in which an innocent Mexican citizen was tragically killed.” Two of the four Americans were also killed in the March 3 attack and one was injured, the Justice Department said . The two survivors returned to the U.S., where they received medical treatment.

The group had traveled to Matamoros, which is located in Tamaulipas, the Mexican state that the U.S State Department advises Americans to avoid due to crime.

“I know women who have gone to Matamoros to have their plastic surgery done. Then they go to the beach to recover, and then they wake up dead the next day,” Dr. Filiberto Rodriguez, a plastic surgeon in Edinburgh, Texas, just miles from the border with Mexico, told Yahoo News. “This is not a vacation place. The drug war is real. There's violence in the streets routinely.”

The number of Americans participating in medical tourism has risen in recent years. In 2007, the American Journal of Medicine found that 750,000 Americans did so. By 2017, that number had hit 1.4 million. Mexico is among the top destinations for medical tourists, according to Patients Without Borders, a consulting company that provides information on the medical tourism industry.

It’s not uncommon for people to travel abroad for medical procedures, but the practice can be risky. According to the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention, there are several factors — and potential complications — that patients should consider, including continuity and quality of care, air travel, antibiotic resistance, infectious disease and communication challenges.

“You have people from San Francisco going all the way down to Tijuana. People all the way from Colorado going into northern Mexico. People from the East Coast flying to the Dominican Republic. And they take a lot of risks,” Rodriguez said.

In 2013, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons found that 8% of all plastic surgery was done on Black patients, which equaled more than 1.2 million cosmetic procedures. For Black patients, cosmetic surgery procedures increased from 768,512 in 2015 to 1.7 million in 2020 , according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

While data is scarce on the mortality rates of Americans traveling overseas for cosmetic procedures, there have been a number of news reports in recent years of Black patients, particularly women, dying as a result of complications from the surgeries.

“We are not having enough conversations about the impact plastic surgery is having on Black women,” Dr. Faith Crittenden, a resident physician at Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital, said on Twitter. “Though BBLs aren’t favorable operations in the US. That’s not stopping our patients from traveling for them,” she said, referring to the Brazilian butt-lift procedure .

“What happened in Mexico is only the tip of the iceberg of this problem with plastic surgery culture and its impact on Black women,” Crittenden added. “It’s time to talk about it. It’s time to care. We in medicine are doing a disservice by ignoring this growing problem, by not providing the proper education to our patients and letting them know the dangers and harms.”

In May 2022, Shacare Terry of Indiana lost her life after traveling to Mexico and the Dominican Republic for weight-loss surgeries. That following December, Sucretta Tolliver, a mother in Chicago, died after a cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic.

In January 2021, Keuana Weaver , a 38-year-old California woman, died duriing plastic surgery in Tijuana. And in May of that year, 34-year-old Markita McIntyre , a mother of three from Biloxi, Miss., died while getting gastrectomy surgery in Tijuana. Alicia Williams , an Alabama teacher, died in 2019 from complications after cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic.

“Every week we have [a] death [in] the ER from botched surgeries done in Mexico,” Rodriguez said. “Once you've gone out of the country, you really don't have any recourse whatsoever. And then if you die, you die.”

In 2021, Renee Donaldson, a Black social media influencer, apologized for promoting Clinichub, a company that arranged cosmetic surgeries with a Turkish company, after British women who received surgeries there experienced serious complications.

Experts found that the price difference is one of the main reasons Americans participate in medical tourism. “If you're looking at cash prices, the apples-to-apples comparison, you're looking at about a 40% to 60% decrease in going internationally for the same procedure,” David Vequist, founder of the Center for Medical Tourism research, told Yahoo News.

But some doctors question if the price is worth the risk. “It's real surgery, cutting into people, dissecting, cutting off skin, sucking up fat; it's surgery,” Rodriguez said.

As the medical tourism industry continues to grow, Vequist estimates that more than $264 million will be spent on it in Mexico this year alone.

“I think people need to take cosmetic surgical procedures seriously and realize that their body is not an experiment,” Rodriguez said. “You only get one body.”

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@donurm/TikTok FTiare/ShutterStock (Licensed)

‘It’s so insanely common’: Tourist shares tragic horror story of trip to Mexico

'we live among demons… truly terrifying'.

Posted on Dec 2, 2023   Updated on Dec 4, 2023, 1:55 pm CST

In a TikTok video that captivated and horrified viewers, a user shares the chilling story of a couple’s tourist trip to Mexico that went horribly wrong.

TikTok user David Nurminem (@donurm) starts the video by saying he has a true story about a girl’s nightmare vacation. He titled the video, “The worst story that makes my skin crawl every time I think about her. Do not go to Mexico unless you really know where you’re going and who you’re going with.” It has amassed 11 million views since Nov. 25.

Nurminem begins his tale by setting the scene: “You’re a guy. You finally found a girl that you wanna settle down with and be with forever. You’re extremely happy with her. You go on a trip with her and some of your friends to Mexico, OK? You’re at a bar, things are going great. Tequila’s flowing, mariachi music’s playing. You’re having tacos or whatever, and everything’s great.”

The story takes a nightmarish turn when the girlfriend goes missing. “She goes to the bathroom. You don’t really hear from her, um, for a few minutes. So you go look, and she’s not there, and you can’t find her. You spend the next couple days searching, cause you can’t find her anywhere in Mexico,” Nurminem says. The horrifying climax occurs at the border: “You’re in line at the border and you see her, like, sitting in the back seat of an SUV. She’s just sitting there, kind of sitting down, sitting face forward, not moving. They realize she’s dead, and her entire body is filled with drugs.”

The TikTok community reacted with a mix of shock, sympathy, and advice. One user wrote, “I would never have guessed that ending in a million years.” Another expressed horror and sorrow, writing, “The way I would literally never recover from this.” And another user wrote, “We live among demons… truly terrifying. I can’t even imagine what she went through. I’m so sorry mama rest in peace angel.” One user emphasized the importance of safety. “For those saying ‘I would’ve never guessed’ I can it’s so insanely common, so please please please be safe on trips and don’t go anywhere alone EVER,” they wrote.

@donurm The worst story that makes my skin crawl everytime i think about her. Do not go to mexico unless you really know where youre going and who youre going with. #greenscreenvideo ♬ original sound – Nurm

Tragically, incidents akin to the one Nurminem shared in his video have occurred before. The Guardian reported in May of 2000 that a “small girl” was “abducted and killed” only for her body to be used as a carcass suitcase to be filled with drugs. The intent was to have her narcotics-filled corpse transported across the border to then be cut open to extricate said narcotics to be disseminated for stateside sales.

Update 1:54pm CT, Dec. 4: While the majority of viewers took Nurminem’s story at face value, a TikToker who said he’s lived right by the Mexico–United States border his whole life questioned it. “Has anyone fact checked this story ?” @juan_sushii asked, arguing he’s “never heard of this.” Viewers credited the story not being well-known to the lack of mainstream news coverage some stories like these get.

However, the claim that drug dealers use hollowed-out bodies to smuggle drugs has been around since at least 2000. Snopes fact-checked the claim at the time and found it to be “false.” Snopes reported that there is no evidence of this “being a common practice in the drug trade” and chalked up a story similar to Nurminem’s as an “urban legend.” “The tale is sickeningly fascinating (thus ensuring it will be told and re-told), and it plays right into what we want to believe about those in the drug trade,” Snopes reported.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Nurminem via Instagram DM for further comment.  

Jack Alban is a freelance journalist for the Daily Dot covering trending human interest/social media stories and the reactions real people have to them. He always seeks to incorporate evidence-based studies, current events, and facts pertinent to these stories to create your not-so-average viral post.

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Americans in Tijuana Are Targets of Organized Crimes

Seeing armed men in ski masks, entering their homes is part of the reality experienced by some americans living in tijuana, by marinee zavala and telemundo 20 • published december 11, 2021 • updated on december 11, 2021 at 9:16 pm.

On Thursday, the prosecutor's office in Tijuana gave more details on the kidnappers who are being investigated for taking U.S. citizens hostage in Tijuana. But these types of crimes are not the only types these communities are exposed to.

"There are several accusations obviously the most solid at the time is that of kidnapping, they have not yet received a conviction," said Hirám Sánchez, a central prosecutor in Baja California.

The prosecutor said they were able to uncover the kidnapping ring in 2020 thanks to the collaboration of the U.S. and Mexican governments.

But seeing armed men in ski masks, entering their homes is part of the reality experienced by some Americans living in Tijuana.

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A man, who told Telemundo 20 he wants to be named as just “Cal”, was one of the last victims to file a lawsuit with the authorities, he said he suffered the worst moment of his life when these assailants pointed a gun at his 7-year-old son.

Tijuana-Based Kidnap Ring Operating on Both Sides of Border — Including in San Diego — Killed 6 Hostages: DA

 "’ You have a week to leave, or we will come back and kill everyone,’" he said of the threats he received. "My wife's son got a gun to his head. It was like a nightmare."

The prosecutor's office confirmed having detected these criminal groups that had taken at least three homes of Americans in Tijuana, today the army and the authorities guard the houses.

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"There was a cell of subjects between professionals and armed people who were raiding in this area of Tijuana and Rosarito, coastal area and various operations have been carried out in coordination with the defense secretary and the national guard," Sánchez said.

Today, U.S. citizens who live in Tijuana as Cal says the only thing that keeps him in the city is the immigration status of his family. He said as soon as he is able to leave, he will.

This story was originally reported by NBC 7's sister station, Telemundo 20. To read the article,  click here.

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Violence scaring off american tourists in tijuana.

For more on this story, watch "American Morning" from 7 to 9 a.m. ET.

Tijuana, Mexico (CNN) -- On Tijuana's Avenue de la Revolucion, street vendor and sidewalk philosopher Juan Ramon Rocha leaned on his coin and jewelry cart and waited.

But the tourists from across the border never rushed into the streets of T.J., as it's often called.

Rocha made one sale, to a local resident, in an hour.

"The business, you can see for yourself, it went down 95 percent," he said. "Please tell them, the Americans, it's safe to come here. We are all Americanos, North Americanos. Do you see any problems here?"

A few yards away, there was a donkey painted like a zebra, hitched to a cart full of sombreros, a Tijuana photo opportunity. But no smiling tourists stepped into the picture frame.

Visitors have been scared off because at least 18,000 people have been killed in Mexico since President Felipe Calderon dispatched the army to fight the drug cartels in December 2006.

Tijuana's grisliest murders include decapitations, dismemberments, dozens of police killings and the deaths of three teenagers at school.

Fear of Tijuana's streets seeps deep into California.

As groups of 240 students from Westmont College near Santa Barbara, California, drove down the coast to do missionary work in Ensenada, Mexico, none ventured to Tijuana.

The missionaries doing spring break volunteer projects in poor neighborhoods were given a simple edict: Do not stop in T.J.

Hanna Walker kneeled, pounding nails into shingles, on a rooftop of a small house taking shape on a dirt road high above Ensenada.

"To be honest, I was a tiny bit nervous crossing the border," Walker said. "I've been to Mexico before, but not for service projects. But now that I have been here [Ensenada] a couple days, I am perfectly comfortable."

The Westmont students are taking precautions as part of their annual Potter's Clay missionary work.

"We are staying in a group," Walker explained. "We are making sure that I am with someone all the time. When we went downtown for dinner, we just paired up and walked around in twos, the buddy system. We locked cars. We're just being smart about it."

Ensenada welcomes any business it can get, as its tourism trade has also been choked off by concerns about border violence.

Fortunately, cruise ships still dock in Ensenada's Bahia de Los Santos, a daily divine arrival that spills cash-carrying tourists onto shore.

But we saw just two visitors who said they drove over the border to visit Ensenada. All the other beer-carrying, trinket-buying tourists came from the ship.

"People are afraid of driving by Tijuana," said Papas and Beer manager Cesar Marquez. "That's what's hurting us [Ensenada] the most."

Later, in Tijuana, as the shadows stretched out with the dropping sun, we were approached by a man with an outdated nylon jacket. His cheeks were chipped by acne scars.

The camera was far out of sight.

"I can help you find whatever you need," he said.

"What do you want? I help people find the good clubs and get dates and more. You pay me."

We told him we were journalists on a story and not interested.

"Oh then pay me, and I will tell you a lot for your story, about everything that goes on here," the hustler said.

Everything -- did he mean drugs or guns, or both?

We had no intent to find out, kept to our tight travel schedule and drove out of Tijuana to a border crossing just several cars deep.

More than five years ago, that vehicle line extended so far back into Mexico, a re-entry at San Ysidro, California, could take hours.

We zipped through the checkpoint in 10 minutes, another sign that Mexico's border violence is frightening off American tourists.

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Brutal killings of 4 american tourists in tijuana sow fear in california.

TIJUANA , Mexico — The slayings of four young Americans in Tijuana sowed fear in Southern California on Friday as Mexican prosecutors tried to determine whether the youths were involved in the country’s violent drug trade or innocent victims of a brutal crime.

The victims, two men and two women in their teens and early 20s, said they were headed for a night of partying across the border only to be found strangled, stabbed and beaten a few days later.

Mexican officials are investigating whether any of the four San Diego -area victims had ties to the drug trade, after a toxicology report tested positive for cocaine on the body of Brianna Hernandez , who was either 18 or 19.

Another victim, Oscar Jorge Garcia , 23, was apprehended in the San Diego area in January 2008 with six illegal immigrants in the car, but never charged in the case, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack said.

The parents of 20-year-old victim Carmen Jimena Ramos Chavez on Friday described a vibrant Chula Vista High graduate who worked at an amusement park for children and planned to become a hair stylist.

“She was a happy girl, with a desire to explore the world,” said her father, Rogelio Ramos Camano, of Chula Vista. “Young people are like that. They think nothing will happen. I was like that, too.”

Mexican prosecutors said the victims had been bound and tortured — common tactics by Mexican drug gangs — before being left in a van in a dusty slum on the outskirts of Tijuana.

Jose Manuel Yepiz, a spokesman for the Baja California state prosecutor’s office, said investigators were examining a threatening letter to one of the victims from a jail inmate in San Diego.

Prosecutors said they had ruled out the possibility that the killings were a case of drug gangs targeting tourists.

Tijuana, which sits across the border from San Diego, has a reputation as one of Mexico’s most violent border cities. Authorities said 843 people were slain there in 2008, many in drug-related violence.

Since taking office in December 2006, President Felipe Calderon has sent more than 45,000 soldiers to combat drug cartels in the country whose turf battles have killed more than 10,750 people over the last two-and-a-half years.

Violence had diminished in Tijuana in recent months, only to pick up a few weeks ago with seven police officers killed in brazen attacks on one day.

Victor Clark , a professor at San Diego State University ‘s Center for Latin American Studies , said criminal ties with any one of the Americans could have spelled disaster for the group.

“Maybe they broke the rules, which means death” when dealing with Mexico’s drug cartels, said Clark, a Tijuana resident and native. “And they dragged their friends down with them.”

Relatives said the victims were familiar with both sides of the border and navigating the area’s bilingual culture — but may have taken their safety for granted.

Ramos said he had often told his daughter, who was born in Tijuana but raised from a young age in the U.S. , that Tijuana was too dangerous, and she assured him she was always careful.

But Ramos said he didn’t offer any warnings as his daughter got ready to go out with her friend Brianna on May 7, even as he watched a news program about killings in Tijuana on Mexican television.

“I think God put that out there so I would do something, but I didn’t dare,” he said in Spanish, shaking his head, recalling how they were already primped and ready to go.

U.S. tourists, already warned by the U.S. State Department to be cautious in Mexico because foreign bystanders have been killed, now appear even less likely to visit once-popular destinations like Tijuana.

“I’m not going to T.J. unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Amelia Lopez , a friend of a victim told television station San Diego 6. “Before, you know, you go to eat or have a good time or shopping. Nothing like that.”

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Tijuana drug violence bleeds into San Diego County with recent cartel shootings

A high-ranking member of an Arellano Félix Organization remnant cell was gunned down near UTC. Then a man who Mexican authorities say is a reputed leader was shot in Chula Vista.

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Three shootings that left two people dead and three wounded over the past couple of months in San Diego County were linked to Mexican drug cartels and involved a drug cell embroiled in a vicious dispute with its rivals in Baja California, according to sources with knowledge of cartel activity and the ongoing investigations.

One of the shootings wounded James Bryant Corona, an alleged drug cell leader with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship, according to sources on both sides of the border with knowledge of the investigation. Baja California Deputy Attorney General Rafael Orozco Vargas described Corona as “one of the main generators of violence” in Tijuana and greater Baja California.

Another attack killed 35-year-old Christian Espinoza Silver, a reputed member of the same drug cell, after a gunman opened fire on him inside a BMW near the parking garage of a pricey high-rise apartment complex in University City.

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Sources said those targeted in the shootings were linked to a remnant cell of the Arellano Félix Organization, or AFO, a cartel that once dominated Tijuana before the group was largely dismantled more than a decade ago by federal authorities in San Diego. Orozco Vargas, second-in-charge of the state prosecutor’s office, confirmed that Corona, who is known as “El Apache,” has worked under an AFO leader known as “Cabo 20,” who is currently in Mexican custody.

While Tijuana and Baja California have for decades been plagued by such violence related to organized crime, rarely in recent years has it bled over so publicly and brazenly into San Diego County, sparking concern among some U.S. authorities and those familiar with Mexican drug trafficking organizations.

“The influence and crime committed by cartels has been, and continues to be a serious issue in our county, as it has been for many years,” San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan told the Union-Tribune in a statement. “The threat remains a significant concern.”

Steve Duncan, a retired agent from the California Department of Justice who spent decades investigating the Arellano Félix Organization and other cartel-related figures in San Diego and Tijuana, including Espinoza, said that cartels “know killing people on this side of the border is bad business.”

And yet, Duncan and others say cartel-related violence here is not as rare as some San Diegans might think. “This type of cross-border violence is not new — the evidence for that is super long,” said Michael Lettieri, the managing editor of the Mexico Violence Resource Project. Lettieri pointed out that the AFO previously “recruited their worst enforcers from the U.S. side of the border,” referring to the Logan Heights street gang members indicted more than 25 years ago for working as assassins for the cartel.

Lettieri said the San Diego-Tijuana region is a cross-border community in which people and goods move back and forth, usually for the good, but sometimes also for the bad.

“That flow is natural ... (but) has meant that there are always connections to organized crime,” Lettieri said. “We are the market for the drugs.”

Even so, the recent shootings were worrisome to some.

“The only thing that’s keeping (the violence) from getting out of control here is we have integrity in our system,” Duncan said, adding that it’s important that investigators share information and solve the shootings. “It has to be investigated and prosecuted ... We have to set an example.”

The FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration — the agencies that typically investigate drug trafficking organizations — declined to comment on the recent violence. An FBI spokesperson said federal law and agency policy “prohibits the routine confirmation of the existence of investigations.” A DEA spokesperson referred questions to Chula Vista police, who are investigating two of the shootings.

Three shootings

The first attack occurred Feb. 17 when a gunman opened fire on a BMW SUV near the parking garage of Palisade UTC, a high-end apartment complex considered one of the most expensive in the county when it opened in 2019. Espinoza was struck multiple times and killed, according to San Diego police. Duncan said Espinoza, known as “El Chato,” was a well-known figure in the Tijuana drug trade with longstanding ties to the Arellano Félix cartel.

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Christian Espinoza Silver, 35, was fatally shot multiple times in a parking garage on Saturday. Investigators are attempting to find the gunman and motive behind deadly attack.

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A 39-year-old man inside the SUV with Espinoza was also struck multiple times and wounded, San Diego police said. Police have not announced any arrests in connection with the shooting.

Two more shootings occurred just hours apart last month in Chula Vista, one the night of March 26 outside a Chili’s restaurant in a strip mall parking lot off East H Street and Paseo del Rey, and the other early on March 27 at the Salerno Luxury Rentals apartment complex in the Otay Ranch neighborhood.

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The person wounded outside the restaurant was Corona, known by his moniker “El Apache,” according to sources on both sides of the border with knowledge of the investigation. The sources spoke to the Union-Tribune on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. The same sources said the shooting less than five hours later at the Otay Ranch apartments was related to the shooting of Corona.

Neither Espinoza nor Corona have been charged with any crimes in the U.S. But Orozco Vargas, the Baja California prosecutor, said Corona is on the radar of Mexican law enforcement.

“We do not have an arrest warrant against him, however, he is always in the sights of the authorities because he is the main generator of violence in the city,” Orozco Vargas said Tuesday. “The problem that we have, not only with him, but with several who are identified and who are generally known to be leaders of (criminal) groups, is that they are not the ones who are executing people in the street ... They are at a level where the crimes they commit are federal.”

Mexico’s federal Attorney General’s Office, which prosecutes drug crimes, said Espinoza had not been charged or previously convicted, and the office did not respond to questions about Corona.

Chula Vista police spokesperson Sgt. Anthony Molina did not identify Corona as the victim wounded outside the Chili’s, but said that just after 8:50 p.m., a man in his 40s was shot in the leg outside of the restaurant and then walked inside, prompting several 911 calls. Molina said medics transported the man to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The subsequent shooting less than five hours later at the Salerno apartments left one person dead and a 24-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his face, Molina said. Investigators have not released the name of the man who was killed or additional details about him.

Detectives arrested two 15-year-old boys on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with the apartment shooting. Due to their age, little information has been released about the teens, but court officials said they were arraigned April 2 in Juvenile Court. Juvenile hearings are typically closed, though judges have the discretion to allow media to attend in newsworthy circumstances. A judge denied the Union-Tribune’s request to attend.

“The victims in this case and their families are paramount as we embark on a prosecution in juvenile court and continue the investigation into anyone responsible for harming our community,” Stephan told the Union-Tribune. “Arrests in this particular case have been made and this is an ongoing investigation. Federal, state and local law enforcement will continue to collaborate closely and are dedicated to pursuing justice in these matters to keep San Diego one of the safest urban counties in the nation.”

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Cartel faction feuds

Duncan, the retired California Department of Justice special agent, said Espinoza’s family has had ties to the Arellano Félix brothers and their criminal organization dating back decades. Orozco Vargas, the Mexican prosecutor, said Corona previously worked under David López Jiménez, known by the nickname “Cabo 20.” López was arrested and charged in 2022 on suspicion of murder, and prosecutors have also said he is suspected of ordering the murder of Tijuana photojournalist Margarito Martínez Esquivel , although he has not been charged in that case.

Their Tijuana-based Arellano Félix cell is reportedly allied with one of the two main factions of the powerful Sinaloa cartel, according to University of San Diego’s Justice in Mexico project. That cartel is roughly split between those loyal to “ Los Chapitos ,” four of the sons of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, and those loyal to Guzmán’s longtime business partner, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

The long simmering rivalry between the Arellano Félix cell and one of the Sinaloa cartel factions was on public display last year in a pair of competing “narco banners” — the handwritten signs that cartels affix in public places, sometimes accompanying murder victims, to threaten rivals. One, attributed to the Sinaloa cartel and found draped over a corpse in Tecate, said in part: “This is what will happen to everyone who supports Brian James Corona ‘El Apache,’” according to Mexican media reports.

Then in November, corrupt police officers in Tijuana allegedly stole a drug shipment reportedly belonging to the “El Mayo” faction of the Sinaloa cartel, the Associated Press reported , citing Baja California state prosecutors. The AP, as well as Zeta Tijuana, an investigative magazine, reported that in the days and weeks after the drug shipment disappeared, Sinaloa cartel assassins hunted, shot and killed several of the law enforcement agents thought to be involved. Zeta also reported that the police officers who stole the drugs colluded with members of the Arellano Félix cell .

Since that time, the reputed top leader of the Arellano Félix cell was shot and injured in Tijuana , Espinoza was gunned down in University City and Corona was shot in Chula Vista.

Duncan said Espinoza escaped an attack by masked gunmen in 2005 by jumping out of the window of a Tijuana banquet hall during a quinceañera. The assassins killed one of Espinoza’s family members, Raúl Silver Quintana, who some media have reported was his father, though Duncan said he was his uncle. Duncan said Espinoza has often hidden out in San Diego over the better part of the past 20 years.

U.S. and Mexican officials have said some of the four Arellano Félix brothers also hid out in the U.S. in the 1990s.

Erubiel Tirado, a security expert and professor at Mexico’s Universidad Iberoamericana, said cartel violence in a U.S. border city would be a “huge change” in the pattern of how criminal trafficking organizations operate.

“Traditionally American cities ... were ... kind of sanctuaries (for) the kingpins and some important members of each dominant Mexican organization,” Tirado wrote in an email. “In that sense, the non written rule was do not ‘heat’ (those) territories with violence and criminal activities.”

Lettieri, from the Mexico Violence Resource Project, said the recent violence being reported likely represented outlier cases and not the start of a pattern. He warned about reading too much into the cause of such violence.

“This kind of thing happens from time to time when certain things shift that we, as outside analysts, don’t have access to,” Lettieri said. He added that the theory of the stolen drug shipment “is the kind of thing that could provoke this. But whether we ever really know why is another question.”

Duncan said the shootings reminded him of the “ Los Palillos ” case that he helped investigate more than 15 years ago. Investigators and prosecutors said that group — named after the Spanish word for toothpick — broke off from the Arellano Félix Organization and operated in San Diego County, where they killed at least nine people, including cartel rivals, in a kidnapping and ransom scheme that sometimes enlisted local street gangs. The two top leaders of the group were each sentenced to multiple life terms in prison.

Union-Tribune editor Kristina Davis contributed to this report.

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S AN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Three shootings over the last two months in San Diego are now allegedly being linked to the Mexican drug cartel south, according to our reporting partners at the San Diego Union – Tribune , who said the shootings targeted members linked to remnants of the Arellano Felix Organization, or AFO, an alleged cartel in Tijuana that was disbanded years ago by federal authorities in San Diego.

“We’re not that far from the border, so what goes on in Tijuana and a lot of the border cities will transpose itself into our neck of the woods,” said Jack Strumsky, a retired police officer with experience of investigations involving AFO.

Strumsky said the cross border violent connections are not a shock.

“By no stretch of the imagination am I surprised, this is quite common and its nefarious, but they get away with it,” he said.

Investigations into a drug cartel take a lot of man power to get people with information to come forward, according to Strumsky.

“It’s very difficult, it’s very time consuming, it’s nothing quick and oriented for quick turnover, a lot of these take long term undercover investigations,” he added.

FOX 5/KUSI was at the scene of the first allegedly connected deadly shooting on Feb.17 outside a luxury apartment complex steps from the UTC Mall in University City. Police later confirmed 35-year-old Christian Espinoza Silver was killed. According to our reporting partners at the San Diego Union-Tribune, he reportedly had connected with the remnants of the AFO.

San Diego police have not yet announced any arrests in connection with that murder.

In March, two shootings that happened just hours a part, were also connected, according to our partners at the San Diego Union-Tribune, the first shooting, March 26, happened outside a Chili’s restaurant in Chula Vista that wounded James Bryant Corona, someone Mexican officials referred to as “one of the main generators of violence” in Tijuana and greater Baja California.

The shooting the following day, just hours after the shooting outside Chili’s happened around 1:30 a.m. on March 27, when authorities said a woman called police from Salerno Luxury Rentals on Calle Verona and said her friend had been shot. Two 15-year-old boys were arrested in that shooting that killed one man and wounded another, after the two victims of the shooting were both shot in the head.

Chula Vista and San Diego police have not yet confirmed any connection between the three shootings.

In a statement on Wednesday, District Attorney Summer Stephan did not directly identify that these shootings were connected to cartels as the cases remain ongoing, but she described the threat of cartel violence as “a significant concern.”

“The safety of our neighborhoods is paramount as we embark on a prosecution in juvenile court and continue the investigation into anyone responsible for harming our community,” Stephan said. “The influence and crime committed by cartels has been, and continues to be a serious issue in our county, as it has been for many years.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.