Corrupt police officers are believed to have stolen drugs from a cartel.
Now the gang has murdered five of the culprits, reports AP.
– Tijuana has never seen anything on this scale and that says a lot, says a police chief to the news agency.
Autumn’s development in Tijuana, Mexico could have been taken from a TV series.
It was in mid-November that half a dozen local and state police officers in Tijuana allegedly staged a coup to steal a large shipment of drugs hidden in a warehouse, AP writes.
Last week, images were released showing the police truck leaving the building – with large bags of cocaine on the bed.
Prosecutors believe the Sinaloa cartel knew almost immediately who had carried out the robbery.
Murder after murder
On November 18, just hours after the theft, gunmen opened fire on the federal prosecutor’s office in Tijuana, firing at least 30 shots, AP writes. Another hour later, one of the municipal police officers allegedly involved in the robbery was shot dead.
Since then, one more police officer has been murdered, prosecutors say, but according to Alberto Capella, at least three more police officers have been shot dead.
According to Capella, the killings indicate that the cartel, which is believed to have owned the drugs, has vowed general retaliation against Tijuana police officers.
Corruption common
Both violence and corruption are common in the Mexican city. When Capella took over the police leadership, he had to fire a quarter of the employees – which resulted in him being the victim of an assassination attempt, AP writes.
But police officers who steal a cartel’s entire drug transport is a new low point, he believes.
– This is very worrying. Tijuana has never seen anything on this scale and that says a lot, says the police chief.
Tijuana, which is located in the border state of Baja California and has a population of over two million, suffers about 2,000 murders each year.