High-tech tool helps rescue kidnap victim

TIJUANA – In a dramatic conclusion worthy of "NCIS," the Mexican military tracked the whereabouts of a businessman through his cell phone and rescued him Tuesday morning, 90 minutes after he was abducted by a group of men posing as state police agents. The commander of Baja California's Second Military Zone, Gilbert Landeros, said that […]

April 13, 2017

Largest tequila festival features 300 brands

TIJUANA – An estimated 10,000 visitors are expected to turn out to Mexico's largest and most successful tequila festival, open Wednesday through Sunday on avenida Revolución. The Expo Tequila Tijuana 2011 features more than 300 brands of Mexico's most emblematic beverage. A total of 45 tequila producers will be on hand, as well as brands […]

April 13, 2017

Elderly man dies in kidnapping attempt in Baja

TIJUANA – An elderly man was found dead on a street in the city’s east side, the apparent victim of a kidnapping attempt, authorities announced Monday. Two people who witnessed the crime were injured, said the state Attorney General’s Office, which identified the man who died as Fidel Ruiz Rocha, 75. He was found covered […]

April 13, 2017

Adios, Frank: Local singer tossed off reality show

TIJUANA – The local reality show participant has been tossed out of "The Academy." The judges voted Frank Díaz off the popular program, which airs in Mexico and the United States on Sunday nights. The goal of the show is to find the next star of Latin American entertainment. Participants attend an "academy," where they […]

April 13, 2017

Workers’ comp fraud up 40% in SD County

Fraud involving the workers' compensation insurance program is one of the fastest-growing crimes in San Diego County. This type of crime can occur in two ways – when an employer does not provide the required insurance or when employees fake a disabling injury to collect benefits. At the state level, this type of fraud costs […]

April 13, 2017

Exhibit honors ‘Great Ones from Jalisco’

TIJUANA – The works of some of Mexico's renowned painters, such as José Clemente Orozco, Juan Soriano and Jorge González Camarena are at the heart of an exhibit that opened over the weekend to celebrate "The Great Ones from Jalisco." The inauguration Friday coincided with the first of a three-day art festival called Entijuanarte 2011 […]

April 13, 2017

Xolos fit to be tied after another doubtful penalty

It was long overdue. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles needed a break. The Xolos were looking for any opportunity, any fragment of fortune they could get to muster a win. After all, the club had endured seven-straight games without a win. That chance appeared to be coming Saturday night. It didn't happen. Tijuana could not catch that […]

April 13, 2017

Mexican army seizes 5,152 lbs. of marijuana

TIJUANA.- The Mexican army working in this region had a very busy week. The commander of Baja California's Second Military Zone, Gilberto Landeros, announced Monday the seizure of 788 pounds of cocaine, with a street value of more than $11 million. The next day he announced the seizure of nearly $1 million in cash at […]

April 13, 2017

Bus crash kills woman, injures 26 in Tijuana

TIJUANA – A woman was killed and 26 others injured, three seriously, when a public transit bus flipped over Friday morning, police announced. According to transit investigators, the driver of the bus of the Azul and Blanco line, Eduardo Efraín Morales Reyes, 30, was driving too fast and lost control on a curve. The driver […]

April 13, 2017

Back-up goalie’s goal is to help Xolos win again

He watched as his teammates were about to make history. Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles were at the brink of clinching a spot in the Mexican Primera Division as they counted down the seconds in a promotion match against Irapuato in May. Adrián Zermeño could only sit and witness the Xolos make the shift to Mexico's top […]

April 13, 2017

New chief takes over Tijuana’s police department

TIJUANA – The city’s new Secretary of Public Safety addressed his officers on Thursday, a day after the City Council ratified his appointment to the post. Alberto Capella visited the police substation in the Otay district, where he addressed the rank and file. He named the man who will be his second-in command, retired army […]

April 13, 2017

Girl, 13, missing from home in Tijuana

TIJUANA – State authorities are asking the public’s help to find a 13-year-old girl who disappeared from her home more than a month ago. She was identified as Diana Arely Vázquez Hernández. According to her father, on Sept. 3 she left her house without telling anyone, taking all of her clothes and personal papers. A […]

April 13, 2017

$1 million in cash seized at border in Tijuana

TIJUANA – The Mexican army seized nearly $1 million in cash being transported Tuesday in an armored vehicle attempting to travel into the United States at the Otay border crossing, military authorities announced Wednesday. Gen. Gilberto Landeros, the commander of Baja California’s Second Military Zone, said the $915, 319.50 apparently belonged to an exchange house […]

April 13, 2017

Two men die in attempt to enter U.S through coast

In separate events, the U.S. Border Patrol discovered the bodies of two Mexican men who had attempted to enter the country illegally through the San Diego coast. In the first incident, three individuals tried to swim from the beach area of Playas de Tijuana toward Imperial Beach, according to Michael Jimenez, of the Border Patrol. […]

April 13, 2017

Tijuana replaces police chief in dramatic change

TIJUANA – Mayor Carlos Bustamante fired on Tuesday the city's police chief and named his replacement, attorney Alberto Capella, who once held that post in the previous administration but was removed for poor performance. The mayor explained the change during a press conference as "a transition," stressing that it did not signal a departure from […]

April 13, 2017

Tijuana mayor fires police chief as killings surge

TIJUANA – Mayor Carlos Bustamante fired the city’s police chief Tuesday and named Jesús Alberto Capella to lead the 2,200 municipal force, it was announced at a mid-day press conference. Capt. Gustavo Huerta Martínez had been Secretary of Public Safety since November, when Bustamente assumed the mayor’s office. Capella is returning to a post he […]

April 13, 2017

Tijuana has a ball in largest festival of art and culture

The largest art festival in Tijuana is Friday through Sunday at the Centro Cultural. The free event, called Entijuanarte, is expected to draw more than 50,000 people from both sides of the border. In its seventh edition, the scope of the art that is showcased has grown from painting, photography, drawing and sculpture to installation […]

April 13, 2017

356 packages add up to biggest Baja bust in 2011

TIJUANA – In the largest seizure this year in Baja California, Mexico's army confiscated Monday morning 788 pounds of cocaine, worth an estimated $11 million. The value could be three times higher since the cocaine was pure and would be diluted before being sold, said Gen. Gilberto Landeros, the commander of Baja California's Second Military […]

April 13, 2017

Eight people killed in three days across Tijuana

TIJUANA – Authorities are investigating the shooting deaths of four people and an attack on partygoers on Sunday and Monday, authorities announced. The state Attorney General’s Office recorded 379 murders in Tijuana this year through Sept. 30, or 1.4 murders a day. The story was the same in October, with four murders committed in just […]

April 13, 2017

Baja AG proposes using drug courts to fight crime

TIJUANA – The state Attorney General is taking the initiative to drive public debate on a revolutionary concept: creating drug courts. For the first time, the Courts for the Treatment of Addictions, as they would be called, would obligate the state judicial system to see drug addiction as a health problem and not solely as […]

April 13, 2017