TIJUANA – Organized criminals have taken a $1.8 billion economic hit this year, military and civilian authorities said Monday.

The commander of the Second Military Region, Alfonso Duarte, said that all operations by all law enforcement agencies across Baja California have cost criminal groups losses totaling an estimated $1,080,846,000 this year.

Among the big busts, the Mexican army's historic discovery in July of nearly 300 acres of marijuana south of Ensenada, and the seizure of 787 pounds of cocaine in Tijuana earlier this month.

"The firm commitment of the members of the council to fight crime has yielded conclusive results through well-coordinated team work," Duarte said.

He was referring to State Council of Public Security, which meets monthly and is comprised of the governor, the state's five mayors and their secretaries of public safety, and military authorities.

Baja California Gov. José Guadalupe Osuna cited as progress that the three levels of government and the Mexican military are working in coordination to fight organized crime. Now, it's time to reinforce individual police departments to help them get better results, he said.

Osuna said it was important to continue the effort that began four years ago to fire corrupt officers in every department, an effort he said would continue for the rest of his administration.

Beyond fighting crime, the state has dedicated funds to the creation or expansion of social programs to give young people alternatives to joining criminal gangs, the governor added.

For his part, Tijuana Mayor Carlos Bustamante took the opportunity to present to the council his new secretary of public safety, Alberto Capella, and to reiterate the commitment to reduce crime.

"We have had a change (in leadership) but our policies do not change," the mayor said.

He said that Tijuana's police department "will continue its absolute coordination" with military authorities, following the governor's directive to the cities.

In his remarks, Capella said that since he took over, he's worked with the military in an operation that yielded nearly 2,200 pounds of marijuana.

And he detailed operations carried out by his department and the army in the months before he arrived that led to significant confiscations, which financially hurt organized crime.

In the meeting, law enforcement and military authorities committed to exchanging information about the 44 air strips in the state to avert the air transportation of drugs and to work together to foil smuggling by sea.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com