A Tijuana court sentenced a man to three years and eight months in prison for stealing merchandise from a Calimax supermarket in the La Mesa neighborhood, the Baja California Attorney General’s Office (FGE) announced on May 3.
The defendant, identified only as Alejandro “N” under Mexican privacy law, entered the Calimax store on Boulevard Díaz Ordaz in the Jardines de La Mesa neighborhood on February 25, 2025, at roughly 1:20 p.m. He took multiple products from the store without paying.
The Tijuana Regional Prosecutor’s Office, through its La Mesa Robbery Investigation Unit, built the case and secured the conviction through a “procedimiento abreviado,” or abbreviated proceeding. This is similar to a plea agreement in the U.S. system, allowing cases to resolve without a full trial.
Charge: Aggravated Commercial Robbery
Alejandro “N” was convicted of “robo calificado a establecimiento comercial,” or aggravated robbery of a commercial establishment. Under Baja California’s penal code, the “aggravated” designation typically applies when circumstances such as forced entry, use of violence, or other qualifying factors elevate the offense beyond simple theft.
The FGE did not specify the value of the stolen merchandise or whether the defendant used a weapon. The original wire tip described the incident as armed robbery, but multiple Spanish-language sources reporting on the FGE announcement described only the taking of products without payment.
Part of a Broader Retail Crime Push
The sentencing came just two days after the FGE announced a separate case on May 1. In that case, prosecutors secured an arraignment against Jorge Luis “N” for an alleged aggravated robbery at an Oxxo convenience store on Avenida 16 de Septiembre in Tijuana’s Colonia Tomás Aquino. That incident, which reportedly involved violence, occurred on October 10, 2025, at about 11:32 a.m.
Calimax is one of the largest regional supermarket chains in Baja California, with dozens of locations across the Tijuana, Rosarito, and Ensenada corridor. The Boulevard Díaz Ordaz store sits in a busy commercial stretch of La Mesa, a central Tijuana district well known to cross-border commuters.
The case was first reported by Semanario ZETA.