A Tijuana control judge ordered preventive detention for Sandra Urbino Toro and her husband Miguel Ángel Toro after prosecutors charged the couple with property dispossession, aggravated extortion, and criminal association. The pair is accused of operating within Tijuana’s so-called real estate cartel, an organized crime network that seizes homes and extorts property owners.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office (FGE) into a network allegedly led by lawyers who coordinate illegal property takeovers across the city. The couple now faces preventive prison while the case proceeds.
A Pattern of Property Seizures in Tijuana
The arrests come just days after the FGE announced the detention of two other suspects identified as leaders of the same real estate cartel. In that case, reported on March 27, authorities arrested Christian Pablo N. and Emmanuel Aurelio N. for their alleged roles in commanding the group. Prosecutors linked those two men to the violent seizure of approximately 50 residential units in Playas de Tijuana, the coastal neighborhood popular with both Mexican residents and foreign property owners.
The real estate cartel’s tactics typically involve forging documents, intimidating occupants, and illegally changing locks to take control of homes. Victims often discover that fraudulent paperwork has been filed with local property registries. Once a property is seized, the network allegedly extorts the rightful owners for payment to return their homes.
Prosecutors Promise More Arrests
The FGE has said it expects to make more arrests in the coming weeks as the investigation expands. The four detentions so far represent the most significant law enforcement action against organized property crime in Tijuana in recent years.
Property fraud has long been a concern in Baja California, where foreign nationals face additional legal complexities when purchasing real estate. Mexican law requires foreigners to hold coastal properties through a bank trust known as a fideicomiso, and gaps in title verification processes have created openings for criminal networks.
Playas de Tijuana, where many of the seized properties are located, sits along the Pacific coast near the U.S. border. The neighborhood has attracted significant real estate investment from both Mexican and American buyers over the past decade.
The Baja California FGE has not disclosed the total number of victims or the estimated value of properties involved in the cartel’s operations. First reported by Zeta Tijuana.