Tijuana Municipal Police arrested four men Saturday afternoon after the group allegedly robbed two street vendors at gunpoint in the Tomás Aquino neighborhood, part of the city’s Otay district.
The robbery left one victim injured. Officers launched an immediate pursuit after receiving the report, tracking the suspects as they switched vehicles along Calzada Tecnológico, a major road that runs through the industrial and commercial heart of Otay.
Vehicle Chase Ends at Major Intersection
Police caught up with all four suspects at the intersection of Calzada Tecnológico and Boulevard Las Américas, a well-trafficked crossing near several shopping centers. The men, aged 18 to 47, were detained without further incident.
Officers recovered stolen cell phones and wallets belonging to the two victims. They also seized a loaded 9mm handgun with 10 rounds of ammunition and impounded two vehicles the suspects had used during the robbery and escape.
Suspects Turned Over to State Prosecutors
All four detainees were handed over to the Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE), Baja California’s State Attorney General’s office, along with the firearm and both vehicles as evidence. Authorities described the operation as the dismantling of an organized robbery cell.
The Otay area, located in southeastern Tijuana near the Otay Mesa border crossing, is home to thousands of maquiladora workers and a steady flow of cross-border commercial traffic. Street vendors are common along its busy corridors, and armed robberies targeting them have been a persistent concern.
Armed robbery numbers in Tijuana have been climbing in recent years. State crime figures showed more than 1,800 reported armed robberies in the city in 2023, up from 1,595 in 2022, a rise of more than 13 percent.
The incident was first reported by Punto Norte.