Three armed convoys totaling six trucks entered the rural delegation of Nueva Colonia Hindú near Tecate in the early hours of Thursday, April 23, surrounding a home and opening fire in what authorities say is an ongoing territorial battle between two of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organizations.
The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) clashed for more than 40 minutes in the rural area southeast of Tecate, according to Semanario Zeta. Gunmen peppered homes with bullets and left more than 100 shell casings at the scene. One man was detained alive. A second was found dead.
Convoys Entered via Tecate-Ensenada Highway
The convoys traveled along the Tecate-Ensenada highway before splitting onto rural back roads to surround a residence on Calle Rubén Adame. This was the second attack on the same property in 2026, pointing to a targeted effort against a suspected local criminal figure.
Ten minutes after the shooting stopped, at approximately 6:36 a.m., a 911 call reported the body of a man lying face down on the Tecate-Tijuana highway near kilometer 127, at the height of the Colonia Bicentenario. The man was motionless.
A Long-Running Fight for Tecate’s Rural Outskirts
Nueva Colonia Hindú is a sparsely populated rural delegation within the Tecate municipality, located along secondary roads branching off the main Tecate-Ensenada corridor. The area has been a flashpoint in the broader conflict between CJNG and CDS for control of smuggling routes in Baja California’s interior.
The CJNG, founded in 2009 in Jalisco and designated a terrorist organization by both the United States and Canada, has been locked in battles with the Sinaloa Cartel across multiple Baja California municipalities for years. The CDS has historically held the majority of territory in Tecate, but CJNG has repeatedly challenged that control through violent incursions.
The coordinated nature of Thursday’s attack, with multiple vehicles, pre-dawn timing, and apparent prior intelligence on the target, is consistent with the pattern of escalating confrontations in rural areas where police presence is thin. Travelers using the Tecate-Ensenada highway and branching rural roads should be aware that cartel operations remain active along this corridor.
This story was first reported by Semanario Zeta in Tijuana.