Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Burning buses shut down Tijuana

Uber fees up to 700 pesos

"They started yelling: 'All of you! Get out!' ” - Image by Luis Gutierrez
"They started yelling: 'All of you! Get out!' ”

Last Friday, Tijuana’s citizens experienced something that has never happened before in the city. Cartel violence has become normalized in the last few decades, but the town was in shock when armed groups burned at least five small buses and blocked two of the city's main roads, one in the east and the other in the west.

People did not realize what was happening. Esteban Morales (not his real name), driver of a burned bus, said he had picked up two passengers on Agua Caliente Boulevard, one of the busiest streets in town. They were carrying a gallon of what appeared to be a cleansing product.

14 vehicles were burned in five of the six municipalities of Baja.

“They asked for their stop, and as soon as they got out, they started yelling: “All of you! Get out!” Some of the passengers asked why, and then they took out their pistols. I was told to get out of the unit with a gun pointing at me. After that a car passed by and picked them up, I tried to use an extinguisher but was too late, everything was burning.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Around the same time, between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, several columns of black smoke appeared in the city’s landscape. Nayeli Roldan, who was riding on a small bus from Playas de Tijuana to downtown, saw two burning buses. She was planning to hang out with friends that Friday evening.

“When I saw the first small bus burning I didn’t give it too much importance because I have seen this before, but after I saw the second I thought something was going on. It was not until I was with my friend that we all realized what was happening, At 8 pm I started getting messages asking me if I was safe. On the streets lines for getting a taxi were huge. There was no public transportation, and the Uber fees were up to 700 pesos, a price I had never seen before.”

Nayeli made it safe back home thanks to a friend who gave her a ride from her house but said that the fear stayed in the air through the whole weekend. “You could feel the panic on the streets; people didn’t know how to get back home, and some places didn’t open the next few days."

The events affected activities like the movies in Zona Rio. Juana Briseño said while watching a movie with her family the projection was stopped and theater evacuated. “We saw one car arson in La Villa neighborhood; we thought was not a big deal, but in the theater, at the middle of the film we were evacuated. On our way back we saw some more, but the fire was almost out. I think they wanted it all to be seen; they did it in strategic places to cause fear.”

At the end of the weekend, 14 vehicles were burned in five of the six municipalities of Baja California. After the recounting of the damages, Tijuana’s mayor and the state’s governor sent out a video which claimed 17 people were involved in the events. The video demanded that the cartels keep citizens to the side in these unprecedented tactics of terror.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
"They started yelling: 'All of you! Get out!' ” - Image by Luis Gutierrez
"They started yelling: 'All of you! Get out!' ”

Last Friday, Tijuana’s citizens experienced something that has never happened before in the city. Cartel violence has become normalized in the last few decades, but the town was in shock when armed groups burned at least five small buses and blocked two of the city's main roads, one in the east and the other in the west.

People did not realize what was happening. Esteban Morales (not his real name), driver of a burned bus, said he had picked up two passengers on Agua Caliente Boulevard, one of the busiest streets in town. They were carrying a gallon of what appeared to be a cleansing product.

14 vehicles were burned in five of the six municipalities of Baja.

“They asked for their stop, and as soon as they got out, they started yelling: “All of you! Get out!” Some of the passengers asked why, and then they took out their pistols. I was told to get out of the unit with a gun pointing at me. After that a car passed by and picked them up, I tried to use an extinguisher but was too late, everything was burning.”

Sponsored
Sponsored

Around the same time, between 6:30 and 7:00 pm, several columns of black smoke appeared in the city’s landscape. Nayeli Roldan, who was riding on a small bus from Playas de Tijuana to downtown, saw two burning buses. She was planning to hang out with friends that Friday evening.

“When I saw the first small bus burning I didn’t give it too much importance because I have seen this before, but after I saw the second I thought something was going on. It was not until I was with my friend that we all realized what was happening, At 8 pm I started getting messages asking me if I was safe. On the streets lines for getting a taxi were huge. There was no public transportation, and the Uber fees were up to 700 pesos, a price I had never seen before.”

Nayeli made it safe back home thanks to a friend who gave her a ride from her house but said that the fear stayed in the air through the whole weekend. “You could feel the panic on the streets; people didn’t know how to get back home, and some places didn’t open the next few days."

The events affected activities like the movies in Zona Rio. Juana Briseño said while watching a movie with her family the projection was stopped and theater evacuated. “We saw one car arson in La Villa neighborhood; we thought was not a big deal, but in the theater, at the middle of the film we were evacuated. On our way back we saw some more, but the fire was almost out. I think they wanted it all to be seen; they did it in strategic places to cause fear.”

At the end of the weekend, 14 vehicles were burned in five of the six municipalities of Baja California. After the recounting of the damages, Tijuana’s mayor and the state’s governor sent out a video which claimed 17 people were involved in the events. The video demanded that the cartels keep citizens to the side in these unprecedented tactics of terror.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Birding & Brews: Breakfast Edition, ZZ Ward, Doggie Street Festival & Pet Adopt-A-Thon

Events November 21-November 23, 2024
Next Article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader