Tijuana municipal police arrested a 27-year-old man identified as Ezequiel, alias “El Lento,” on the afternoon of April 29 in the Residencial Aguacaliente neighborhood. Officers found 20 packages of methamphetamine on him during a routine patrol in the Sánchez Taboada delegation, one of the city’s largest eastern districts.
Police confirmed through criminal records that Ezequiel is a member of a criminal cell linked to ongoing violence in the area. Authorities turned him over to the Baja California Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General del Estado, or FGE) to face drug retail charges. He also faces existing investigations for other crimes, though officials did not specify the nature of those cases.
Sánchez Taboada: A Key Area for Enforcement
The Sánchez Taboada delegation stretches across eastern Tijuana and includes a mix of working-class colonias and more established residential areas like Residencial Aguacaliente. The neighborhood sits well east of the border crossing and the Zona Río commercial district that many visitors know.
Street-level meth distribution has been a persistent problem across Tijuana’s delegations. The Sinaloa Cartel’s La Mayiza faction controls the so-called “Tijuana plaza” and oversees drug trafficking operations throughout Baja California, according to a February 2026 U.S. Department of Justice indictment against alleged plaza boss René Arzate-García. That indictment named methamphetamine as one of the primary drugs moved through the region.
Municipal Police Target Street-Level Operations
Arrests like this one target the lower rungs of cartel supply chains: the retail dealers who distribute drugs within residential neighborhoods. Tijuana’s municipal police force handles street-level enforcement, while state and federal agencies pursue higher-level trafficking cases.
The arrest of El Lento is part of a broader municipal effort to disrupt cartel retail operations in Tijuana’s colonias. Police patrols in the Sánchez Taboada delegation have intensified in recent months as authorities work to reduce violence tied to drug distribution turf disputes.
Residents and visitors in eastern Tijuana should expect a visible police presence in these neighborhoods. Enforcement operations can occur without advance warning in both commercial and residential zones.
The original report was published by Punto Norte on May 1.