TIJUANA Authorities have so far seized more than double the amount of cocaine this year in Baja California than in all 2010, a total of 1,079 pounds, of which about half were confiscated last weekend in a house in Tijuana.
The estimated street value of the cocaine seized this year is $40.8 million, according to the Baja California Department of Public Safety.
A total of 493 pounds were confiscated last year, which had an estimated value of $18 million, according to the state police agency known as the PEP.
The state's public safety secretary, Daniel de la Rosa, said most of the cocaine was headed for the United States.
Last Saturday's seizure of nearly 519 pounds in a house in the eastern neighborhood of La Villa was a big blow to the financial structure of the Sinaloa cartel, state authorities said. The PEP estimates the street value of the seizure at $19.3 million.
Police also confiscated several weapons and detained a man who allegedly worked for the leader of the cartel, Joaquín "El Chapo"Guzmán.
Authorities detailed the other major seizures of cocaine this year:
Sep. 7, in Tijuana's La Presa district, the PEP confiscated 83.6 pounds and detained various men with weapons and cash
June 11, based on an anonymous crime tip, police confiscated 211 pounds of cocaine, nearly 468 pounds of crystal meth and arrested two men in Tijuana's westside colonias of Lomas El Porvenir and Alamar
On May 30, authorities detained a man who said he was part of La Familia Michoacana cartel and found 66 pounds of cocaine hidden in two properties in the eastern Tijuana neighborhood of Monte Bello
On Jan. 2, authorities seized 88 pounds of cocaine in the neighborhood of Los Laureles de Mexicali, as well as high-powered weapons and other drugs
De la Rosa said the increase in seizures in the result of having a better trained staff and a reinforced system to gather intelligence and carry out investigations. He also credited ordinary citizens who had the courage to report crime through an anonymous phone line.
One sociologist who has studied the drug phenomenon at the border for more than 20 years, Victor Clark, has expressed concern that illegal drugs remain plentiful on the streets, despite years-long crackdown by state and federal authorities on the criminal groups that sell them.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
