TIJUANA – Five people were killed in a 12-hour period in two attacks in the city's east side, authorities announced.

The murders occurred as authorities were announcing that deadly violence in Tijuana decreased considerably during the first two months of this year compared to the same period last year.

In the first case, a man and a woman were shot to death around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in a seafood restaurant in the Otay Nueva Tijuana neighborhood, police reported.

The victims were identified as Luz Orquídea Morales Rodríguez, 39 years old, and Jesús Arturo Sarellana Hernández, 26. Investigators found four .45 shell casings and five 9 mm casings at the scene.

The second case was reported around 6:30 a.m. Thursday. The bodies of two men and one woman were found inside an austere house in the neighborhood of Ampliación Sánchez Taboada. They were found on a couch, all with multiple gunshot wounds.

They were identified as Juan Carlos García Lima, 33 years old; Ernesto Hernández Sánchez, 33; and María Vega Villarreal, 40.

In the clothing of one of the victims officers found a bag filled with 23 plastic bundles, known as "globitos" in Spanish, containing a type of methamphetamine sold on the street.

Investigators found 9 mm shell casings, a small container with seven plastic bundles of a granulated drug, and a burned out bulb, they added.

Authorities announced that 30 homicides had occurred in the city in February, 33 fewer than in the same month last year; and 57 had occurred in January, 63 fewer than in January of 2010.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com