Cartel leaders in Mexico’s border towns set up roadblocks, hijacked and set fire to more than two dozen vehicles in a weekend of chaos that saw the United States warn the country’s citizens to seek shelter on the spot.
Violence swept across the Pacific coast state of Baja California as the country’s most powerful cartel demanded the release of one of its senior leaders. Chaos spread to the cities of Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito, Ensenada, and Tecate.
Mexican President André Manuel López Obrador is now trying to reassure residents that calm has returned after the violence.
“I want to tell the people of Mexico to keep calm, that there is governability and stability,” López Obrador said during Monday’s press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.
The left leader has downplayed the wave of attacks in Baja California and before that in the central state of Guanajuato, saying it is in the interests of our opponents, the conservatives, to magnify things, do tabloid and sensationalism.’
López Obrador said a full report would be released Monday noon to provide an update on the casualty and arrest figures.
The arrest last Tuesday of Ricardo Ruiz, a senior leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, led to a spate of attacks in three states, including Baja California, where over two dozen vehicles were torched over the weekend
Still image from video captured by a motorist shows the moment a bus is set on fire in Baja California over the weekend
Mexican security forces guard Tijuana International Airport Saturday in response to a wave of attacks by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel
At least one person – a bus driver – was injured in an attack in Mexicali.
At least 17 people have been arrested in connection with Friday’s roadblocks and vehicle burnings in Tijuana, Mexicali and Ensenada, according to the Baja California State Security Department.
Three of the suspects – including a woman – have been identified as members of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.
The attack was ordered by the cartel after the arrest of Ricardo Ruiz, also known as “Doble R” (“Double R”) or “The YouTuber”, last Tuesday in Guadalajara, Jalisco.
He is believed to be the originator of a propaganda video uploaded to various social media platforms and is charged with the 2012 murder of Venezuelan model Daisy Ferrer and the murder of José de Jesús, the former Jalisco state tourism minister, in 2012 examined in 2013.
Ruiz’s arrest sparked a series of gun battles in Jalisco that spread to Baja California and Guanajuato, three of the 32 states where the cartel has a strong presence.
Responding to a spate of violence over the weekend following the arrest last Tuesday of a senior member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appeared before the press on Monday and said he wanted “the people of Mexico to remain calm “. there is governability, there is stability
A convoy of 300 soldiers joined elements of the Mexican National Guard at Tijuana International Airport on Saturday
Firefighters work at the scene of a burned-out collection transport vehicle after it was set on fire in Tijuana on Friday
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel imposed a curfew in Tijuana on Friday, warning not to harm civilians as the war is anti-government.
“Let them fight it out among themselves, but leave us alone,” said Blanca Estela Fuentes of Tijuana as she scouted public transportation. “So they kill each other, they can do what they want, but the public, why are we to blame?”
A video taken by the attackers shows them in military gear as they set fire to an Oxxo supermarket in Guanajuato.
Since Tuesday, a total of 25 Oxxo stores have been partially or completely set on fire.
A motorist stuck in traffic captured the moment a person set fire to a bus in Baja California.
Footage showed traffic at a standstill while smoke billowed down the road from a burning vehicle.
People look at a burned-out transport vehicle after it was set on fire by unidentified gunmen in Tijuana on Friday
The U.S. consulate in Tijuana instructed its staff to “seek shelter until further notice” over the late Friday violence around midnight.
Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean canceled Sunday’s scheduled stops in Ensenada.
However, the violent atmosphere didn’t stop thousands of concert-goers from attending Baja Beach Fest in Rosarito over the weekend.
“I left Baja Beach Fest about an hour ago,” Remezcla Music Editor Alexis Hodoyán tweeted Saturday. “There was no signal. Festival-goers probably don’t know what’s happening.”