State and federal security forces arrested three suspected cartel gunmen Friday evening in Tijuana’s Colinas de la Cruz neighborhood after officers spotted suspicious behavior during a joint patrol operation.
The suspects, known by their aliases “El Negro,” “El Pollo,” and “El Cocho,” were carrying two 9mm handguns, two magazines, and 15 live rounds of ammunition. Officers also seized 1,050 individual doses of methamphetamine, weighing approximately 610 grams, along with nearly 2 kilograms of marijuana.
Multi-Agency Operation in Eastern Tijuana
The arrest was carried out by Baja California’s State Security Forces (FESC) working alongside the Mexican Navy, the federal Security and Civilian Protection Ministry (SSPC), and the National Guard. The coordinated patrol reflects the multi-agency security model that state and federal authorities have deployed across Tijuana’s eastern neighborhoods, where cartel street-level operations remain persistent.
Colinas de la Cruz sits in Tijuana’s sprawling eastern zone, an area of steep hillside colonias far from the tourist corridor. The neighborhood is part of a broader stretch of residential communities that have seen recurring drug enforcement operations in recent years.
Suspects Turned Over to Federal Prosecutors
All three men were handed over to the FGR (Fiscalía General de la República), Mexico’s federal attorney general’s office, which will determine formal charges. The involvement of federal prosecutors, rather than state authorities, points to the weapons and drug quantities meeting federal jurisdiction thresholds.
Methamphetamine remains Tijuana’s most seized street-level drug. The city sits at the heart of a production and trafficking corridor that feeds demand on both sides of the border. Baja California has the highest rate of meth use of any state in Mexico, and law enforcement operations targeting street-level distribution cells are a near-daily occurrence across the city.
The 610 grams of crystal meth seized in Friday’s arrest, divided into more than 1,000 individual doses, is consistent with retail-level distribution rather than wholesale trafficking. Combined with the firearms, the seizure profile matches what authorities describe as a cartel “punto” or sales cell: armed operatives assigned to guard and distribute drugs in a specific territory.
The arrest was first reported by Punto Norte.