On October 14, 2026, three bodies (two men and one woman) were found dead on a local road in the La Sierrita neighborhood, in the municipality of Tecate; two of them had been decapitated. Local residents were the first to arrive at the gruesome scene and call the authorities.
The discovery occurred at 12:47 p.m. that Wednesday and was logged under incident number 75946/2026; the initial report indicated two deceased individuals on a dirt road, but after municipal police arrived and searched the area following the securing of the crime scene, the number was corrected to three victims.
All three bodies were bound at the hands and feet; the woman was face down, wearing a black shirt, but her pants and underwear had been removed. Signs of torture were visible all over her body. A few meters from her body, a human head was found which, according to forensic experts, belonged to the female body recovered nearby.
The second body was described as “male, face down, wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt”; it was also missing its pants and head, which was not found at the scene and has not been located in the days since.
Investigators consulted by ZETA at the scene stated that, due to the difficult access to the neighborhood and the lack of security cameras in the area, they don’t yet have information regarding the perpetrators of the triple homicide. However, on the afternoon of October 14—the same day as the killings—a video of the murders was sent by the perpetrators to mobile phones belonging to cartel hitmen. The video also reached a mobile phone in the possession of federal authorities, which had been seized during an arrest made weeks earlier.
Federal investigators reported that the video features the voice of a man who can be heard severing a woman’s head, after which he issues warnings to members of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS). The video, which circulated via mobile phones, was accompanied by messages allegedly signed by Ricardo López, known as “El Chicho”—identified as the head of hitmen for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Tecate. Within the “Security Roundtables” (coordination bodies for law enforcement), he is considered a high-priority target due to his alleged involvement—both as the mastermind and the direct perpetrator—in numerous homicides.
Following the circulation of the video, the Sinaloa Cartel launched attacks against suspected drug-dealing points linked to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Both sellers and consumers were gunned down, primarily in the area along the Tecate River, where drug use is widespread.
The latest escalation of violence in Tecate intensified on October 3, when CDS hitmen murdered Edwin Alberto Salazar, alias “El Pálido”—identified by authorities as a member of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel operating in the municipality of Tecate. He was gunned down as he left a soft-drink shop located on Avenida Benito Juárez, in the center of Tecate. Edwin was the brother of Isaac Nuño, alias “El Soury,” who is also a member of the CJNG. These brothers, along with other criminals such as “El Charro” and “El Panker,” were threatened in a cartel message on July 22. The message was found next to a body that had been completely wrapped in tape from head to toe and enclosed in black plastic bags.
Just three days earlier, on September 29, the Sinaloa Cartel faction had dealt another severe blow to the CJNG (Jalisco New Generation Cartel) by killing Marco Antonio Salceda—alias “El Many”—in the Nueva Colonia Hindú neighborhood. Salceda was a gunman for the CJNG, operating in that rural district as well as the urban area of Tecate. Together with Ricardo López—alias “El Chicho”—he had been engaged in a fierce war against the CDS (Sinaloa Cartel) for control of the southern part of the Tecate municipality.
“El Many’s” body was riddled with more than 30 rounds from high-caliber weapons, including AK-47s (“cuernos de chivo”) and AR-15s. The gunfire struck his skull, face, chest, neck, abdomen, lower back, and limbs. The assailants fired at him directly more than a dozen times, even after he was already dead on the ground.
On October 15, following the circulation of a video showing a triple homicide that had taken place the day before on Misión San José del Cabo Street in the El Descanso neighborhood, an alleged drug dealer was also gunned down—reportedly “while he was working on a car around six in the morning.”
That same Thursday afternoon, several residences identified as drug-dealing locations were targeted in armed attacks across the Rincón Tecate, Invasión, and Guajardo neighborhoods, as well as in the river area.
Violence escalated into the rural zone on October 17, when armed individuals opened fire on municipal police officers and members of the National Guard. The confrontation began after the officers attempted to stop a pickup truck while patrolling the Luis Echeverría neighborhood (known as “El Hongo”). The occupants of the vehicle fired at the officers and fled, scattering caltrops—that damaged the police vehicles and prevented a pursuit.
On October 17, armed individuals attacked a makeshift dwelling in the area known as “La Invasión,” wounding three men; one of the victims later died in a hospital. On October 18, a man was gunned down by individuals who broke into his home in the Rincón Tecate neighborhood.
On October 19, members of the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels clashed once again. The shootout lasted nearly 30 minutes near the Nueva Colonia Hindú district, along a local road leading to a site used as a dump—an area known to be frequented by cartel lookouts (*halcones*) and gunmen. Although authorities launched an operation, no arrests were made. Hours later, the body of a man in an advanced state of decomposition was discovered in one of the area’s vacant lots.
The conflict between these two cartels has resulted in 153 homicides in Tecate so far this year, along with more than a hundred disappearances. This situation has fueled deep public frustration and exposed a breakdown in the security strategy—a strategy that, according to official government rhetoric, has supposedly yielded positive results to date. The perception of insecurity is so severe that this “Pueblo Mágico” (Magical Town) has seen a significant drop in tourism in areas that once enjoyed a steady flow of visitors, according to local business owners and merchants. They remain baffled by the intransigence of Mayor Román Cota, who has downplayed the issue, attributing the problem instead to the late-night hours when young people go out to party.
According to intelligence reports from authorities within the Baja California Coordination Table for Peace and Security, the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) is on the verge of gaining total control over criminal activity in the “Pueblo Mágico.” Recent assessments indicate that the CDS already dominates La Rumorosa; the Valle de Las Palmas area (which connects to Tijuana); the Testerazo and Carmen Serdán areas (which connect to Ensenada); El Paso del Águila, Capiri, and surrounding neighborhoods (which connect to the eastern zone of the municipality of Tijuana); and holds 90 percent control over the urban area.
Investigators note that, with the exception of the Emiliano Zapata, Rincón, Lázaro Cárdenas, and Jardines del Río neighborhoods—as well as a portion of Santa Anita—the only rural district the Sinaloa Cartel has yet to fully seize remains under the control of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG): Nueva Colonia Hindú, considered one of the most critical flashpoints in Tecate.
“The operators of the Jalisco Cartel know this area perfectly; they have lived here for years. They know the backroads connecting to other districts, the impassable routes, the surveillance points—everything. That is how they have managed to survive an onslaught that has already cost them a significant number of operatives,” stated an investigator. The source doesn’t rule out the possibility that the CDS will become firmly entrenched by 2027—a prospect that alarms authorities, given the persistent reports of extortion (specifically “protection” rackets) in areas where the cartel maintains a presence. It’s not ruled out that, as the Jalisco-based group retreats, homicides and disappearances could increase during the final two months of 2026—potentially even reaching 200 homicides in December, which will mark one year since the territorial dispute between the two cartels began.
“I believe that, unfortunately, the number of homicides will continue to rise. We cannot deny that—even as such incidents occur daily—more young people on both sides keep joining this war, which extends beyond this municipality to the national level. It’s no secret that the social fabric is fractured, a reality that has led more and more young people to turn to crime. This is a problem the government must address—not only through security measures, but also by re-examining the role of the family unit. Furthermore, the issue has permeated government institutions; we have even seen the children or relatives of municipal officials involved in drug trafficking—a situation that seems to have become normalized,” the security expert noted.
A case in point is Omar Blancarte Jr., son of the former Chief Administrative Officer—now the Treasurer—of the Tecate municipal government. Although he is considered a high-priority target and has been identified by members of the local Security Coordination Committees as a member of a criminal group, he openly stated in December 2025—just two months after his father took office alongside Mayor Román Cota Muñoz—that he is a friend and protégé of José Ángel Flores Ayala, known as “El Siete.” Flores Ayala currently operates for the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) alongside Ricardo López, known as “El Chicho.”
Source: Zeta Tijuana
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