TIJUANA (Border Report) — The border state of Baja California overall is Mexico’s most crime-ridden when it comes to murders, crimes against women and auto theft, according to the National Public Safety System in Mexico.
While it may not be first in every category, the designation is based on cumulative stats.
In Baja California, the murder rate this year is 73 per 100,000 residents so far. Stats show eight people are killed in a “violent manner” every day in the state directly south of California.
Violence against women continues to rise with 21 murders recorded in the first seven months of 2020. These crimes are also known as “femicides,” women who were murdered simply because of their gender during domestic violence episodes or during assaults.
Baja California is the state with the most auto theft in the country with almost 1,900 cars stolen from January through August.
Federal officials say this issue has a wide impact on society, as entire families depend on their automobiles to get around and to conduct business.
The U.S. State Department has labeled the city of Tijuana as being a “critical threat location” for crime directed at or affecting official U.S. government interests.
It says criminal activity and violence, including homicide, are a primary concern throughout Baja California. While most homicides appear targeted, criminal organization assassinations and turf battles have occurred in areas U.S. citizens frequent. “Bystanders have received injuries or died in shooting incidents.”
The State Department goes on to say violence is largely limited to Tijuana’s outlying areas and not concentrated in tourist zones, and that criminals “do not tend to target U.S. citizens uninvolved in drug trafficking.”
