A man was killed and a woman wounded during a firefight between Mexican military personnel and suspected criminals on the night of Friday, April 24, near Valle de la Trinidad in the rural inland area of Ensenada municipality.
Soldiers on patrol along a dirt road in the Ejido Tribu Kiliwas and Arroyo de León area encountered multiple vehicles. The occupants opened fire on the troops upon spotting them, triggering a gun battle. The man died at the scene, and the woman was transported to a medical clinic in the city of Ensenada for emergency treatment.
A Pattern of Violence in Rural Ensenada
The confrontation is part of ongoing military operations in the area following a string of violent incidents in recent weeks. On March 28, a separate armed attack in the same Valle de la Trinidad community left four people dead and one injured, according to N+ reporting at the time. Gunmen in that incident fired from two vehicles at their victims.
Valle de la Trinidad sits roughly 140 kilometers (about 87 miles) southeast of the city of Ensenada along Highway 3. The small farming and ranching community serves as a gateway to the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir, home to Baja California’s highest peak and the National Astronomical Observatory. Off-road enthusiasts and nature travelers frequently pass through the corridor.
What Travelers Should Know
The ejido where the shootout occurred lies off the main paved highway on unpaved tracks used primarily by local residents and ranchers. The military presence in this remote zone points to sustained organized crime activity in rural Ensenada municipality, where cartel-linked violence has been escalating throughout 2026.
Travelers heading to the San Pedro Mártir area or driving Highway 3 between Ensenada and the Valle de San Felipe should stick to paved roads, travel during daylight hours, and avoid isolated dirt roads and ejido tracks in the region. The Mexican military has been conducting patrols along these back roads, meaning both criminal activity and armed security operations are present in the area.
Authorities have not publicly identified the dead man or the injured woman. No military casualties were reported. The incident was first reported by Ensenada.net and confirmed by Semanario ZETA.