Tijuana municipal police arrested two men on Friday after discovering a clandestine workshop used to dismantle stolen vehicles in the Lomas del Valle neighborhood. Officers seized two stolen trucks, tools, and vehicle parts from the site, which authorities say operated as a so-called deshuesadero, an illegal chop shop where stolen cars are broken down and sold for parts.
Stolen Vehicle Dismantling Operations Persist Across Tijuana
The arrests took place around 6:30 a.m. on Privada Loma Dorada after municipal police, coordinating with the state Investigative Guard (GEI), responded to reports of suspicious activity. The two suspects, identified only as 47-year-old Luis Enrique “N” and 42-year-old José Manuel “N” under Mexican privacy law, were found inside the property with two pickup trucks that had been reported stolen.
One vehicle was a white Chevrolet Silverado, and the other was a white Toyota Tacoma. Both had been flagged in law enforcement databases. Officers also recovered assorted mechanical tools and loose vehicle components consistent with an active dismantling operation.
Illegal chop shops remain a persistent problem in Tijuana and across Baja California. Vehicle theft is one of the most common crimes in the state, and stolen cars are frequently stripped for parts that enter the informal market. The parts are sold individually at tianguis (open-air markets) or through informal networks, making them difficult to trace once separated from the original vehicle.
Baja California recorded more than 14,000 vehicle thefts in 2023, according to federal crime statistics from the Secretariado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública (SESNSP), Mexico’s national public safety data system. Tijuana accounts for the largest share of those thefts in the state. Pickup trucks like the Silverado and Tacoma are among the most targeted models because of high demand for their parts on both sides of the border.
Operations like the one on Privada Loma Dorada typically function in residential neighborhoods or on the urban periphery, where large garage spaces or walled lots can conceal activity. Lomas del Valle sits in Tijuana’s eastern sprawl, an area of steep hills and mixed residential and commercial use where oversight can be thin.
Tijuana Vehicle Theft Affects Cross-Border Residents and Insurance Costs
For anyone who owns a car in Tijuana, vehicle theft carries real financial consequences. Mexican auto insurance policies in border cities like Tijuana carry higher premiums than in most of Mexico precisely because of the theft rate. Drivers with U.S.-plated vehicles are also targets, particularly those who park overnight in colonias rather than secured lots.
The Lomas del Valle area sits roughly 15 minutes east of the Otay Mesa border crossing, a corridor used daily by cross-border commuters. Pickup trucks are especially valuable targets in this zone because of their utility in construction, agriculture, and transport industries on both sides of the line.
Tijuana’s municipal police have increased operations against deshuesaderos over the past year. In March 2025, a separate operation in the Mariano Matamoros neighborhood led to the recovery of five stolen vehicles and the arrest of three suspects. In late 2024, state authorities dismantled a network in the Sánchez Taboada delegation that had been linked to at least 20 vehicle thefts over several months.
Still, the informal parts market makes enforcement difficult. A stolen truck worth $25,000 USD can yield $40,000 or more when sold as individual components: engines, transmissions, doors, and bed liners each carry significant resale value. That economic incentive keeps chop shops profitable even as police shut them down one at a time.
The two suspects were transferred to the state attorney general’s office (FGE, Baja California’s state prosecutor) for processing. They face charges related to vehicle theft and possession of stolen property. The recovered Silverado and Tacoma will be held as evidence before being returned to their registered owners.
Tijuana’s Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana, the city’s public safety department, urged residents to report suspicious mechanical activity in residential areas through the 911 emergency line. The next phase of anti-theft operations is expected to continue through the summer months, when vehicle theft rates historically rise in Baja California. This story was first reported by Cadena Noticias.