Mexico Crime Wave Has Tourists On Edge

Recent Violence On Mexico's Baja California Peninsula Is Driving Visitors Away

(AP)  Assaults on American tourists have brought hard times to hotels and restaurants that dot Mexican beaches just south of the border from San Diego.

Surfers and kayakers are frightened to hit the waters of the northern stretch of Mexico's Baja California peninsula, long popular as a weekend destination for U.S. tourists. Weddings have been canceled. Lobster joints a few steps from the Pacific were almost empty on the usually busy New Year's weekend.

Americans have long tolerated shakedowns by police who boost salaries by pulling over motorists for alleged traffic violations, and tourists know parts of Baja are a hotbed of drug-related violence. But a handful of attacks since summer by masked, armed bandits - some of whom used flashing lights to appear like police - marks a new extreme that has spooked even longtime visitors.

Lori Hoffman, a San Diego-area emergency room nurse, said she was sexually assaulted Oct. 23 by two masked men in front of her boyfriend, San Diego Surfing Academy owner Pat Weber, who was forced to kneel at gunpoint for 45 minutes. They were at a campground with about 30 tents, some 200 miles south of the border.

The men shot out windows of the couple's trailer and forced their way inside, ransacked the cupboards and left with about $7,000 worth of gear, including computers, video equipment and a guitar.

Weber, who has taught dozens of students in Mexico over the last 10 years, plans to surf in Costa Rica or New Zealand. "No more Mexico," said Hoffman, who reported the attack to Mexican police. No arrests have been made.

The Baja California peninsula is known worldwide for clean and sparsely populated beaches, lobster and margaritas and blue waters visited by whales and dolphins. Surfers love the waves; fishermen catch tuna, yellowtail and marlin. Food and hotels are cheap.

News of harrowing assaults on American tourists has begun to overshadow that appeal in the northern part of the peninsula, home to drug gangs and the seedy border city of Tijuana. The comparatively isolated southern tip, with its tony Los Cabos resort, remains safer and is still popular with Hollywood celebrities, anglers and other foreign tourists.

Local media and surfing Web sites that trumpeted Baja in the past have reported several frightening crimes that U.S. and Mexican officials consider credible. Longtime visitors are particularly wary of a toll road near the border that runs through Playas de Rosarito - Rosarito Beach.

In late November, as they returned from the Baja 1000 off-road race, a San Diego-area family was pulled over on the toll road by a car with flashing lights. Heavily armed men held the family hostage for two hours. They eventually released them but stole the family's truck.

Before dawn on Aug. 31, three surfers were carjacked on the same stretch of highway. Gunmen pulled them over in a car with flashing lights, forced them out of their vehicles and ordered one to kneel. They took the trucks and left the surfers.

Aqua Adventures of San Diego scrapped its annual three-day kayak trip to scout for whales in January, ending a run of about 10 years. Customers had already been complaining about longer waits to return to the U.S.; crime gave them another reason to stay away.

"People are just saying, 'No way.' They don't want to deal with the risk," said owner Jen Kleck, who has sponsored trips to Baja about five times a year but hasn't been since July.

Charles Smith, spokesman for the U.S. consulate in Tijuana, said the U.S. government has not found a widespread increase in attacks against Americans, but he acknowledged many crimes go unreported. The State Department has long warned motorists on Mexico's border to watch for people following them, though no new warnings have been issued.

Mexican officials acknowledge crime has threatened a lifeblood of Baja's economy. In Playas de Rosarito, a city of 130,000, police were forced to surrender their weapons last month for testing to determine links to any crimes. Heavily armed men have patrolled City Hall since a failed assassination attempt on the new police chief left one officer dead. On Thursday the bullet-riddled bodies of a Tijuana police official and another man were found dumped near the beach.

"We cannot minimize what's happening to public safety," said Oscar Escobedo Carignan, Baja's new secretary of tourism. "We're going to impose order ... We're indignant about what's happening."

Tourist visits to Baja totaled about 18 million in 2007, down from 21 million the previous year, Escobedo said. Hotel occupancy dropped about 5 percentage points to 53 percent.

Hugo Torres, owner of the storied Rosarito Beach Hotel and the city's new mayor, estimates the number of visitors to Rosarito Beach since summer is down 30 percent.

In the city's Puerto Nuevo tourist enclave, which offers $20 lobster dinners and $1 margaritas, restaurant managers said sales were down as much as 80 percent from last year. One Saturday afternoon in October, masked bandits wielding pistols walked the streets and kidnapped two men - an American and a Spanish citizen - who were later released unharmed. Two people who were with them were shot and wounded.

Omar Armendariz, who manages a Puerto Nuevo lobster restaurant, is counting on the new state and city governments to make tourists feel safer. He has never seen fewer visitors in his nine years on the job.

"It's dead," he said.

[bajamann]

BEWARE OF ROSARITO

do not believe anything written here by those with vested interests(hoteliers,real estaters etc)
i live here and know of no one who hasn't been robbed at home, in the street or by the police.
the Ca. is deporting every criminal it possibly can and they are all here doing their dirty deeds.
do yourself a favor and enjoy California!

[underdogus]

"Mexico crime wave" "US crime wave" what the fluck? is everywhere, I live in BAJA!! been here 7 yrs!! the FRIGGIN CRIME IS WORST IN SAN DIEGO!! CRIME IN TIJUANA,NEW ORLEANS,LA,ORANGE COUNTY, SAN FRANSICKO, its EVERYWHERE.. gesss

[mediapreachr]

''If we Americans weren''''t so lazy, we would be working the jobs that they "take" from us.
Posted by baptox at 12:44 AM : Jan 08, 2008''

You''re wrong my friend(also I think that you just offended many generations at the same time)-americans are not lazy,actually are(were)the most productive workers in the world(according to european studies).
But today,working for almost nothing has a way of sagging your morale.

[baptox]

I think there''s a lot of over reaction here, folks. First of all,I haven''t heard about any problems in Cabo San Lucas, or other parts of Baja California Sur. The problems with crime seem to be in the northern part of Baja. I spent three weeks in Todos Santos two years ago and loved it.

Secondly, we Americans are the biggest consumers of drugs for the Mexican drug cartels. If American culture is so great, why do so many of our citizens use illegal drugs? There will always be a provider of these illegal drugs if there are consumers.

Third, we need to stop blaming all of our problems on Mexicans, whether they be legal or illegal. If we Americans weren''t so lazy, we would be working the jobs that they "take" from us.

[cdfoxtrot]

Blah, blah, blah .... Hawaii is the best because it is the USA, with grocery stores, doctors, postal service, cleanliness, cellular service, law enforcement, etc. ...
Blah, blah, blah

Posted by drivelphobe

Are you a former cheerleader? BTW, all the Caribbean countries I''ve visited have grocery stores, doctors, a postal service, etc. etc.

[krotec54]

Mexico is so corrupt. Cartels are taking over the local government; they want the boarders to be left open for drug trade. No American or Mexican-American would be safe from kidnapping or murder.
We need the Fence, and we should boycott Mexico. They will not change for the better for a long time, unless they get a real leader that will educate the country.
On my vacation I go to TACO BELL, it is cheaper than a legitimate vacation to Mexico or the Caribbean%u2019s.

[sharncedar]

You have to give Mexico credit. They have defeated the United States in the war at last. after the phony "let''s all share" lies they pretended to believe, just long enough to pump 34 million of their soldiers into our country, now they are turning to armed violence to ethnic cleanse the occupied territories. It''s classic, simple ethnic genocide strategy, nothing fancy.

The question is whether any country but the US would ever have allowed themselves to be defeated this way. I don''t know, it ranks as one of the worse defeats in history, one of the most pathetic failures of an entire nation. We are corrupt, ripe with traitors, and they sold us out.

[mediapreachr]

If you think about it,Mexico- the definition of a third world country;no middle class,just very poor and extremely rich.
Mexico main exports-oil for dollars and poverty(there''s no border),the poorest of their citizens,because there''s no such thing as welfare in their country.

[standlee5]

I won''t vacation in Mexico. No way. I think their govt. has treated the American taxpayer with extreme ungratefulness and disrespect.

[drivelphobe]

Mexico is an armpit of a country. Even the Mexicans want to leave. I have friends who continue to talk about Mexico as the greatest vacation value. They go every year and rave about the beaches, the food, the great Margaritas and chips. I went one more time last May for the Baja 5oo, and if anything, it is worse than before. I''ll never go again. The only reason some people go there, is, it is cheaper than a legitimate vacation to Hawaii or the Caribbean. These are the places to go for the warmer, tropical vacations.

Hawaii is the best because it is the USA, with grocery stores, doctors, postal service, cleanliness, cellular service, law enforcement, etc. In addition, you don''t see the jeeps full of heavily armed 18 year old infantry personnel looking for a reason to shoot which are everywhere you look in Mexico.

[standlee5]

The more illegal Mexican aliens that come into my neighborhood the higher the crime rate. I live in a sanctuary city and the Home Depot parking lot always has 100 or more illegals wondering around the parking lot. Every single fence in my neighborhood has been graffitied up by rival Mexican gangs due to a low income "sanctuary" housing complex nearby. It really sucks for homeowners who have nice wood fences with stain because they have to paint over the graffitti and then keep paining after every week end. Also lots and lots of drug activity. Why aren''t they being arrested. This used to be a nice lawful community.

[shanev137]

Mexico sucks.

[hypnotoad72]

Come to America! It''s cheap AND secure!

[marcpcbs]

"Mexico Crime Wave Has Tourists On Edge"

So tell me something new.

[terrapin78]

No turista dollars will open their eyes to the problem.

Boycott Baja Mexico!

[random_radar]

The State Department publishes advisories about how dangerous different nations are to help American travelers. If Mexico were treated like other nations, it would be considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for Americans (in the same class as Iraq and Afghanistan). But Mexico is never on the list of dangerous places for some reason. I wonder why?

[surfleft]

A Tijuana cop makes $8000.00 a year.Tourists continue to be seen as a source of additional income.The Mexican gov. will always underreport crimes against tourists. They steal Xmas gifts from their own people at the border.Don`t count on the US government to help. They see the problem only in a political context.Record oil revenues will not trickle down to the good citizens of Mexico. The Mexican legal system says that you must prove your innocence{Napoleanic Law}.It is the one place you need a gun for safety, but don`t get caught with one.American females are seen as ****** to violate,and the controversy over illegal immigration here gives some people there the license to commit crimes against the Gringos."The subtle bigotry of lowered expectations" dictates that Americans will always expect Mexico to behave like a substandard third world backwater that can`t employ their own people and clean up their governments` corruption.The good people of Mexico deserve much better than their corrupt political leaders give them.Poor, poor Mexico.

[beehive21-2009]

Why go to mexico ? cheap, you pay hidden costs like montes revenge etc. keep out of mexico,you''ll be better off.Go to the southwest usa it once belonged to mexico before they killed, Davey