Mexican paradise

By Richard Marosi
November 12, 2008

Reporting from Rosarito Beach, Mexico?
Mayor Hugo Torres has always pitched his seaside city as a cut-rate paradise. But even this relentless hometown booster is stumped these days: How do you sell the Mexican good life in the midst of a drug war?

The city's bustling main drag, Benito Juarez Boulevard, has been the scene of two shootings since September, including a drive-by slaying of a 15-year-old boy and three others in a pet store filled with frenzied puppies and canaries.

Gunmen shot down one police officer guarding a park. Two more officers were killed after finishing their shift, another two while on patrol. After the seventh cop killing in one month, officers in October marched on City Hall asking Torres for bulletproof vests and more guns. About 30 police officers have resigned in recent weeks.

Torres, a trim 72-year-old, surfs in front of his oceanfront home, which is guarded by six heavily armed officers. He used to visit California regularly to promote Rosarito Beach. There's not much point now, he said.

"I need something to tell the American people, what we have accomplished," Torres said in his exquisitely appointed City Hall office. "We have to fix the drug war."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationw...ca/la-fg-rosarito12-2008nov12,0,3858653.story

Three arrested in Rosarito Beach kidnapping, killing:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/15/three-arrested-rosarito-beach-kidnapping-killing/

Nov. 12, 2008. Good going. Tapping your currant news source? How long did you look for that? I think you should believe every word and don't ever come here if you don't want to be beheaded, kidnapped, killed, or worst. There is a guy that comes around every morning with a wheelbarrow and picks up the headless bodies. By noon they are all gone. By all means think what you want and stay where you are. I'm happy for you.

85 MAX-fan said:

Three arrested in Rosarito Beach kidnapping, killing:

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/15/three-arrested-rosarito-beach-kidnapping-killing/

Click to expand...

Tried repeatedly to slit her throat. What about all those people that are killed by knives. Like I said about drugs and violence. I guess if he she owed $1000 they would have used a sharper knife. Hey," $400 dollars we use butter knife to cut your throat". they could have waited until the couple was back in the States and used a gun. but you know how implusive these young people are.

forestdaledave said:

Nov. 12, 2008. Good going. Tapping your currant news source? How long did you look for that? I think you should believe every word and don't ever come here if you don't want to be beheaded, kidnapped, killed, or worst. There is a guy that comes around every morning with a wheelbarrow and picks up the headless bodies. By noon they are all gone. By all means think what you want and stay where you are. I'm happy for you.

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American citizen kidnapped in Rosarito escapes by jumping from car

While the following story was widely reported in many Baja California news sources, so far, after six days, no American periodical has reported this story.]
Five men participated in the kidnapping of an American citizen and a Mexican citizen in Playas de Rosarito, of which four are now jailed, reported the Deputy Attorney General Against Organized Crime of the Baja California State Attorney General. Those arrested are Osbaldo S?nchez Mendoza, ?El Osby? or ?El G?ero?, 21 years old; Carlos Obrayan Rodr?guez Rodr?guez, 20; Pablo Gerardo Ramos Castill?n, ?El Father?, 23; and Jos? Guadalupe Hern?ndez Avi?a, ?El Lupillo?, 26. In addition, an arrest warrant has been issued for another accomplice who has not been identified by the authorities.
The case was uncovered the afternoon of January 29, 2013, when the American victim jumped from a Mitsubishi Montero SUV that was travelling on calles 5 de Mayo and Roberto Barrios in Rosarito. Behind the kidnap vehicle was a municipal police patrol car. Upon seeing what happened, the police detained the passengers in the Montero, those being Carlos Obrayan and Pablo Gerardo.
The victim is Randy Thomas, a 59-year old retired American citizen. He told the police that he had been kidnapped, as well as his former brother-in-law, who was being held at the Los Potrillos pet supply store located in Ejido Mazatl?n in Playas de Rosarito. The American said he was a frequent customer of the pet supply store where he was kidnapped. While he was in the back seat of the kidnappers' car, he could see a Rosarito police car behind them in the rear view mirror, so he jumped out of the car.
The police then went to the pet supply store and rescued the other 26-year old victim, who was tied up hands and feet and gagged. In that building, the police captured Osbaldo S?nchez Mendoza, who was guarding the victim with a .22 caliber Ruger. Days later, after the arrest of the three criminals, the police managed to arrest Jos? Guadalupe Hern?ndez Avi?a, who is the intellectual author of the kidnappings. He planned to ask for a $50,000 dollar ransom.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblo...an-citizen-kidnapped-in-rosarito-escapes-by-/

forestdaledave said:

Tried repeatedly to slit her throat. What about all those people that are killed by knives. Like I said about drugs and violence. I guess if he she owed $1000 they would have used a sharper knife. Hey," $400 dollars we use butter knife to cut your throat". they could have waited until the couple was back in the States and used a gun. but you know how implusive these young people are.

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Boyfriend killed, and she had her throat cut (while pregnant) and then was left for dead. She didn't owe any money Dave, I suggest you read the artical better since you are now in the neighborhood.
Guess the knife was sharp enough to Murder the boyfriend, but that shouldn't concern you CAUSE IT WASN'T A GUN!!! LOL!
:rofl_200:

This should shed some light on how Safe (or NOT) Mexico currently is:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-mexico-tourism-violence-20130210,0,1625782.story

Companies won't even put "Mexico" in there ads.

These people look like real winners....The one girl from California looks scared as hell...Hope they get whats coming...

Take a look at this also:
Travel Warning
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of Consular Affairs
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_5815.html

Northern Mexico
Baja California (north): Tijuana and Mexicali are major cities/travel destinations in the state of Baja California -see map to identify their exact locations: You should exercise caution in the northern state of Baja California, particularly at night. For the one-year period ending July 2012, the number of murders in Mexicali increased by 43%, from 127 to 181, over the preceding year. The number of murders in the city of Tijuana was 351 for the same period. In the majority of these cases, the killings appeared to be related to narcotics trafficking. Targeted TCO assassinations continue to take place in Baja California. Turf battles between criminal groups resulted in assassinations in areas of Tijuana frequented by U.S. citizens. Shooting incidents, in which innocent bystanders have been injured, have occurred during daylight hours. Twenty-five U.S. citizens were the victims of homicide in the state in the 12-month period ending July 2012.

Dave,
How could these crimes be happening, Guns are illegal in Mexico???


UPDATE/EDIT 02/17: Overall more quiet in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, Tecate and Ensenada with the exception of many arrests and one execution very early this morning in the Las Delicias neighborhood:

AFN
Hallan ejecutado en Las Delicias

TEXT




From El Mexicano: another execution and another shoot out with police


- Yesterday one man shot and killed in colonia Reforma on the street. Other agencies have noted this was a daytime attack, bullets hitting a convenience store in a generally busy traffic and pedestrian area. The shooters then engaged in a shoot out with Municipal Police while being chased in their speeding vehicle. Three people were subsequently arrested; two men and one woman with an AK-47:

El Mexicano
Matan a hombre en "La Sanchez"

TEXT



- Rosarito Beach: Neighbors report today Marinos at Calimax parking lot and one Municipal Police Squad car parked in the Calimax parking lot. On Benito Juarez, two Municipal squad cars and two Municipal pick ups going north and south on Benito Juarez.



- Rosarito Beach: This morning in the Popotla Restaurant area one man shot, taken to Hospital his condition is reported serious but stable. No arrests:

Frontera
Disparan a hombre en zona restaurantera de Popotla

TEXT





From AFN: The Bancomer at Giramar Plaza Rosarito Beach

- Rosarito Beach and Tijuana: Two bank robberies in each location which will represent the fourth and fifth bank robberies so far this year. The first was at the Bancomer in Ruta Hidalgo (La Presa) in the morning of 02/15 where three armed men escaped with 15K dlls.

In Rosarito Beach at the Griamar Plaza next door to Calimax a little after 1:00PM in the afternoon a group of armed young men terrorized the customers. Frontera reported that at least thirty people were at the Bancomer Bank who were forced by the gunmen to lay on floor while their personal possessions, phones and bags were taken. Five of the customers went into a state of shock and had to be treated by the Red Cross. At this moment, the two robberies do not appear to be related.

AFN
Hombres armados roban dos bancos

TEXT



- Rosarito Beach: Today the agencies are reporting that three men have been arrested for the Rosarito Beach bank job. AFN also adds that after they hit the bank, they held up a gas station in Rosarito. According to the PGJE, the three were partying in an unnamed hotel in Rosarito Beach drinking and taking drugs. No comments on this report which is unusual:

AFN
Atrapan a asaltantes festejando con droga

TEXT



- Rosarito Beach: On 02/14 an Army and Municipal Police operation acting on an anonymous tip seize more than a ton of dope in colonia Villas del Mar on calle Paseo del Mar, in the back of a truck.

Same day, on an anonymous tip in Otay more than 600 kilos of mota seized by Federal Ministerial police inside of a van.

Same day, PEPOS arrests one man carrying 40 kilos in colonia Altiplano and at La Mision on the free road from Tijuana to Ensenada, Federal Police locate an abandoned vehicle with over a kilo of ice inside.

AFN
Decomisan mas de 1.6 toneladas de mariguana

TEXT


- Rosarito Beach: Today once again at colonia Villas del Mar Army and PGR elements seize an undisclosed amount of narcotics both inside of a house and two pick up trucks and a van which were loaded down with dope. Authorities cordoned off the area. So far, Frontera is only reporting this one:

Frontera
Decomisan mas droga en colonia de Rosarito

TEXT





From Frontera: The search continues


- At El Pozalero's "La Gallera" site in Maclovia Rojos where the search continues for missing people in the second pila or pit, 150 teeth (13 dentures) and 80 pieces of bone fragments have been found. President of the Association for the Disappeared of Baja California, Fernando Ocegueda Flores stated that both the PGJE and the PGR have confirmed this latest finding. Prior to this finding, 800 teeth and 800,000 pieces of bone fragments were found in the first pit/pila. The search will continue with 60% left to excavate in the second location and still a third pit/pila yet to be excavated.

Frontera
Encuentran mas restos humanos en 'La Gallera'

TEXT


UPDATES/EDIT 02/18:





From AFN


- The third seizure of narcotics in Rosarito Beach within four days, and this one is really huge. In colonia Villas Floresta on Blvd. Benito Juarez, the PEPOS acting on an anonymous tip seize 33 packages of cocaine weighing in at 37 kilos and 900 grams and five big wrappers of "glass" weighing in at 2 kilos and 600 grams. The dope was inside of an unattended vehicle's trunk, the vehicle still had the keys in the ignition. All total, the cocaine's estimated worth is 37 million 900 thousand pesos and the glass worth is estimated at one million 300 thousand pesos. No arrests were made, no weapons mentioned and we have not been informed yet as to which cartel owned the narcotics:

AFN
Realiza PEP millonario decomis de droga

02/08/2012 VIOLENCE BAJA CALIFORNIA MORE ATTACKS ON POLICE - RESUMPTION OF THE SEARCH AT EL POZALERO'S FOR MISSING PEOPLE - AND MORE EXECUTIONS




Since last Monday until this afternoon there have been six shoot outs with Tijuana, Rosarito Beach Police and PEPO agents, leaving the one PEPO officer killed and several police officers wounded. The fear is that these were organized or planned attacks much like what happened back in 2007-2010 from a criminal cell group associated with drug trafficking, luring officers in to a situation then opening fire on them. Overall that does not seem to be the case, however armed robbers and car thieves either caught in the act or on the run being pursued by the authorities are not tossing their weapons out of the window - they are choosing to engage in gun battles with agents.


DAVE! GUNS ARE ILLEGAL THERE!! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN????

The funny thing about all the guns and murders in Mexico is their guns laws are so strict...

Mexico: Although Mexicans have a constitutional right to own guns, one obstacle limits gun purchases: there is only one gun store in the country, located in Mexico City. Still, Mexico ranks seventh worldwide in terms of the number of privately owned guns and violence stemming from a battle against organized crime in recent years has raised concerns about gun smuggling, particularly from the United States.

Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution entitles the country?s citizens to own guns. After civil unrest and the student movements of the late 1960s, a 1971 reform to the constitution made Article 10 more restrictive; citizens were limited to gun ownership at home, while the right to carry weapons?whether openly or concealed?became restricted to federal jurisdiction.

Citizens can largely carry handguns, shotguns, and rifles below specific calibers. Gun ownership requires obtaining a one-year gun permit from the Secretariat of National Defense within 30 days of acquisition. A gun owner must belong to a shooting club to get a permit, can get permits for up to 10 weapons, and can only purchase ammunition for the calibers of guns owned. Other requirements include being 18 years of age, having mental and physical capacity to operate a gun, holding no criminal convictions, and fulfillment of military service. Private sale of guns is allowed, and subject to the same gun-permit laws. A separate permit is needed for a citizen to carry a weapon outside of a residence, and involves requirements such as an occupational necessity (for example, employees of security firms or rural workers).

Despite the permit rules, a sizeable gap stands between the number of weapons in circulation and those registered. GunPolicy.org estimates that the number of guns held by Mexican civilians totals 15.5 million, and yet the number registered is roughly 2.8 million.

Aside from the low registry rates, arms smuggling remains a major concern, given that tens of thousands have died since the Mexican government ramped up its fight against organized crime six years ago. Mexico may only have one gun shop, but there are over 50,000 gun retailers just across the border in the United States. Since 2007, roughly 70,000 illicit weapons captured in Mexico were traced back to U.S. manufacturers or dealers. April 2012 data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that two of every three illegal guns recovered in Mexico came from the United States. With few limits on ammunition sales in the United States, the smuggling of bullets into Mexico is another challenge. A 2011 study published by the University of Notre Dame estimates that the 2004 expiration of the U.S. Federal Assault Weapons Ban led to a 16.4 percent increase in Mexico?s homicide rate between 2004 and 2008.

You couldn't pay me enough to visit that chithole country to our south. No way in he!! I'd spend any of my hard-earned vacation money down there.

The wifes' company took dept heads down to CanCun (sp) a couple years ago. The group occupied about 20 hotel rooms. Of that 20 rooms, at least 8 had their bags rifled and/or belongings stolen while they were at the convention downstairs during the two day, three night event. Somehow, hotel security cameras had no usable footage of any of the breakins - go figure.

a113ycat said:

Despite the permit rules, a sizeable gap stands between the number of weapons in circulation and those registered. GunPolicy.org estimates that the number of guns held by Mexican civilians totals 15.5 million, and yet the number registered is roughly 2.8 million.

Aside from the low registry rates, arms smuggling remains a major concern, given that tens of thousands have died since the Mexican government ramped up its fight against organized crime six years ago. Mexico may only have one gun shop, but there are over 50,000 gun retailers just across the border in the United States. Since 2007, roughly 70,000 illicit weapons captured in Mexico were traced back to U.S. manufacturers or dealers. April 2012 data from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that two of every three illegal guns recovered in Mexico came from the United States. With few limits on ammunition sales in the United States, the smuggling of bullets into Mexico is another challenge. A 2011 study published by the University of Notre Dame estimates that the 2004 expiration of the U.S. Federal Assault Weapons Ban led to a 16.4 percent increase in Mexico?s homicide rate between 2004 and 2008.

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RRIigghht The 2012 data from the batf. The group that was giving the guns to the criminals. Check the bigger picture. 12% of the total siezed.


http://www.nssfblog.com/second-amendment-not-responsible-for-mexicos-gun-violence/


and " Purchases are limited to small caliber, non-military weapons that must be kept at home; semi-automatic weapons are only sold to military and police. After the 1960s, Mexican law was changed to prohibit private citizens from openly carrying a firearm or carrying a concealed weapon. "

As stated earlier, Rosarito Dave has no credibility, none at all.

Good work guyz on posting those articles.

O

JFeagins got it right. Who cares about that corrupt nasty land to our south. No way in hell I go there for anything and spend my dollars there. People here need it just as much. Let them choke on their coke and their guns while their Gov't make the US look like a haven!

forestdaledave said:

Nov. 12, 2008. Good going. Tapping your currant news source? How long did you look for that? I think you should believe every word and don't ever come here if you don't want to be beheaded, kidnapped, killed, or worst. There is a guy that comes around every morning with a wheelbarrow and picks up the headless bodies. By noon they are all gone. By all means think what you want and stay where you are. I'm happy for you.

Click to expand...

Sounds like its too dangerous for me....:surprise::surprise::surprise:

So Baja California is actually a state (or province) in Mexico? That's confusing! Why isn't it Baja, Mexico?? :ummm: