Theories on Tijuana Killings Abound

In a place where divining meaning from acts of violence is a morbid coffee-shop pastime, the assassination and ensuing developments have inspired a dizzying array of possible explanations--and divergent opinions within U.S. law enforcement circles over whether Baja California is in the midst of a war between big-time drug gangs.

Although some U.S. officials see months of spectacular killings as an early indication of a broad conflict between rival groups, others attribute much of the violence to housecleaning within the Arellano Felix gang, which dominates drug trafficking in Baja California.

U.S. law enforcement officials say a gang based in Sinaloa, a coastal state whose best-known city is Mazatlan, appears to have stepped up its presence in Baja California as cocaine smuggling through the zone has grown. But they express skepticism about an assertion by Mexican authorities that the Sinaloa group, implicated in the murder of Tijuana Police Chief Alfredo de la Torre Marquez, is also responsible for the slayings of 14 other people in the border city in recent months.

"Quite honestly, we can't see the motivation behind some of the killings," said one U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We can't see the connection."

There are even differences within U.S. law enforcement over the alleged drug involvement of De la Torre, who was slain in a brazen daylight highway ambush Feb. 27. One federal official said there is "pretty solid information" going back several years that De la Torre, who held various law enforcement posts over a nearly 30-year career before becoming chief in 1998, had been paid to assist the Arellano smuggling operations. But others within the U.S. government characterize reports about De la Torre as contradictory and inconclusive.

Tijuana Mayor Francisco Vega de Lamadrid and other city officials also discounted news reports about U.S. suspicions of De la Torre's alleged Arellano ties. The only valid conclusions about the chief's murder, Vega said, would come from Mexican authorities with jurisdiction over the case. The mayor advised against speculation that would harm the city's image.