TIJUANA – Municipal authorities removed approximately 200 unauthorized street vendors from the Zona Norte district in what officials are calling the largest single enforcement action in the area in five years. The March operation, led by the Direccion Municipal de Comercio and backed by officers from the Policía Municipal, targeted unlicensed stalls along Calle Coahuila, Avenida Constitucion, and the blocks immediately surrounding the Arco de Tijuana on Avenida Revolucion’s northern end.
Inspectors seized merchandise valued at an estimated 3.2 million pesos, including counterfeit clothing, electronics accessories, and unlicensed food carts operating without health permits from the Comisión Estatal para la Proteccion contra Riesgos Sanitarios (COEPRIS). The confiscated goods were transported to a municipal storage facility on Boulevard Industrial pending claims by vendors who can produce valid commercial licenses.
Zona Norte, which stretches roughly from the pedestrian border crossing at PedWest south to Calle Segunda, has long struggled with informal commerce that narrows sidewalks and blocks storefronts. Business owners along Calle Coahuila had filed formal complaints with the city’s Camara Nacional de Comercio (CANACO) chapter throughout 2025, citing lost foot traffic and sanitation problems from unlicensed food vendors dumping waste into storm drains.
City officials said vendors who held valid permits were not affected and that the operation specifically targeted those operating without any municipal authorization. A relocation program through the Mercado Municipal offers subsidized stall space at roughly 1,500 pesos per month, though vendor advocates from the Union de Comerciantes Ambulantes argue that available spaces are insufficient to absorb the displaced sellers. For visitors walking through the Zona Norte area between the border and Avenida Revolucion, the cleanup has noticeably widened sidewalks and reduced the congestion that previously made pedestrian navigation difficult.