Mexicali’s Public Security Director Luis Felipe Chan confirmed that police arrested 11 people for carrying illegal firearms during the Holy Week holiday period. No major violent incidents were reported in the city during the vacation stretch, which Chan attributed to an elevated security operation.
The arrests came as thousands of Mexicali residents left the capital of Baja California for vacation destinations, thinning out the city’s population. That exodus also brought traffic accident numbers down to roughly 25 per day, below the city’s usual rate.
Fatal Crash on Mexicali to San Felipe Highway
The holiday period was not without tragedy. A fatal crash on the Mexicali to San Felipe highway killed three people: a 46-year-old woman and two minors, ages 13 and 16. The two-lane highway connecting Mexicali to the Sea of Cortez fishing town of San Felipe is a roughly 190-kilometer route that sees heavy vacation traffic during Holy Week and long weekends.
The road, which crosses open desert with limited services for much of its length, is well known to expats and weekenders heading to San Felipe. It carries a mix of passenger cars, commercial trucks, and RVs, and accidents on the corridor are a recurring concern during peak travel periods.
Firearms Enforcement in a Border City
Possessing firearms without proper federal permits is a serious crime in Mexico, where gun laws are far stricter than in the United States. Civilians may only legally purchase firearms from a single government-run store in Mexico City operated by the military (SEDENA, the Secretariat of National Defense). Carrying a weapon without authorization can result in years in prison.
Mexicali, which sits directly across the border from Calexico, California, has been a focal point for weapons enforcement. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reported in February 2026 that it had seized more than 4,300 firearms bound for Mexico since January 2025, part of a broader effort to disrupt cross-border weapons trafficking.
Chan did not provide details on the types of firearms seized or the identities of those arrested during Holy Week. The 11 arrests were spread across the holiday period rather than concentrated in a single operation.
This story was first reported by The Baja Post.