Three teenagers from Tijuana have been missing since April 20 after a fake job offer recruited through social media lured them to a commercial plaza in Tecate. The families say the teens left home expecting legitimate work but arrived at a location where most businesses were already closed for the night.
The missing teens are Edgar Jovani Pelayo Cenicero, 16; Jeremy Alexander Robinson Cañedo, 15; and Brian Samuel Jiménez Hernández, 16. All three live in Tijuana’s Villa del Campo neighborhood. According to family members, the boys took an Uber to the Cuchumá shopping center in Tecate around 7:30 p.m. on April 20.
After-Hours Meeting at a Closed Shopping Center
When the teens arrived at the Cuchumá plaza, all the shops were closed. Only a bar remained open. A family acquaintance told reporters the boys had been promised good pay but were taken under false pretenses. No one has heard from them since that evening.
The circumstances follow a pattern well documented across Mexico: a social media solicitation promising easy money, an after-hours meeting at a commercial location, and the disappearance of young people who showed up expecting employment. Tecate sits roughly 35 miles southeast of Tijuana along the border with San Diego County’s eastern edge.
Fake Job Offers: A Growing Recruitment Tactic
Cartels and criminal organizations in Mexico have increasingly used bogus job postings on social media to recruit or abduct young people. A France 24 report from April 2025 detailed how the Jalisco New Generation Cartel lured recruits with fake job advertisements, a tactic the Mexican government has identified as central to the country’s missing persons crisis. In 2023, five young men aged 19 to 22 in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco were killed after responding to a similar fake job offer.
Baja California’s border corridor between Tijuana and Tecate has seen persistent cartel activity. The route connecting the two cities runs through mountainous terrain with limited law enforcement coverage in some stretches.
Families Seek Information
Physical descriptions and identifying marks for all three teens have been circulated by the families. Anyone with information about Edgar Jovani Pelayo Cenicero, Jeremy Alexander Robinson Cañedo, or Brian Samuel Jiménez Hernández is urged to contact Baja California state authorities immediately.
This story was first reported by Punto Norte on April 22.