Tijuana municipal police recovered a loaded Colt M4 carbine from a gray Volkswagen Jetta in the Infonavit Patrimonio Murúa neighborhood on Saturday morning after two men fled the scene on foot. Neither suspect was detained.
Officers responded to a report of armed individuals in the Otay Centenario delegation, a residential area in eastern Tijuana near the Otay Mesa border crossing. When they arrived, they spotted two men near the vehicle. One ducked into a nearby house, while the other ran toward a local street market. Both escaped before police could apprehend them.
Military-Grade Weapon Found Loaded With 25 Rounds
Inside the Jetta, officers found a Colt M4 carbine in .223 caliber, loaded with 25 rounds. The M4 is a military-grade weapon commonly associated with organized crime operations in Mexico. According to data compiled in reports on the Mexican drug war, M4 carbines are among the most frequently seized firearms in cartel-related cases across the country.
Police secured both the weapon and the vehicle. They turned them over to the FGR (Fiscalía General de la República), Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office, which handles cases involving military-grade firearms. The federal referral is standard procedure when restricted weapons are involved, though it can also indicate investigators suspect ties to organized crime.
No Injuries, Suspects Still at Large
No injuries were reported during the incident. The Otay Centenario delegation sits along key transit routes between eastern Tijuana and the Otay Mesa port of entry, one of the busiest commercial border crossings in the region. The Infonavit Patrimonio Murúa neighborhood is a working-class residential area built through Mexico’s federal housing program.
The seizure comes as weapons recoveries remain a regular occurrence in Tijuana. Earlier this month, municipal police in a separate incident detained three people near Plaza Pacífico after recovering a 9mm pistol and a stolen vehicle linked to a homicide investigation.
The FGR has not released details about possible suspects or lines of investigation in the Murúa case. This story was first reported by Punto Norte.