Tijuana municipal police rescued four adolescent girls found outside a motel in the Colonia Manuel Paredes neighborhood on the morning of March 21 after two male companions abandoned them overnight. The teens showed signs of alcohol consumption, and officers activated a specialized protection unit to handle the case.
Girls Entered Motel on Night of March 20
The four minors told officers they had entered the motel with two male acquaintances on the evening of Friday, March 20. The two men left during the early morning hours of Saturday, stranding the girls at the location. Officers on a routine preventive patrol discovered the teens outside the motel and noted they had alcohol on their breath.
Tijuana’s SSPCM (the city’s public safety and citizen protection department) confirmed the details in a statement. After finding the girls, patrol officers called in the Escuadrón Violeta, or Violet Squad, a specialized unit within Tijuana’s municipal police trained to respond to cases involving vulnerable women and minors.
State Prosecutors Investigating Corruption of Minors
Officers transferred the four adolescents to Baja California’s FGE (state attorney general’s office) for processing. Prosecutors opened an investigation into potential corruption of minors charges, a criminal offense under Mexican law that covers adults who expose minors to harmful situations including alcohol, drugs, or sexual exploitation.
The identities of the two male suspects have not been released. Authorities have also not disclosed the ages of the four girls beyond confirming they are minors. The FGE will handle family reintegration for the teens.
Colonia Manuel Paredes sits in Tijuana’s eastern zone, a largely residential area south of Boulevard Lázaro Cárdenas. The neighborhood is roughly five miles from the San Ysidro border crossing. Motels in this part of the city typically operate as short-stay establishments, and police patrol the surrounding blocks as part of regular overnight routes.
The Violet Squad has handled a growing number of cases involving minors and gender-based violence in Tijuana. The unit was created to provide a trained, sensitive response when officers encounter women or children in danger during routine operations. Its activation in this case followed standard SSPCM protocol for incidents involving underage victims.
The FGE is expected to pursue charges against the two men once they are identified. Semanario ZETA first reported details of the rescue on March 22, according to Punto Norte.