Baja lawmaker seeks extortion report

Reporting and context

Mexicali, Baja California — State lawmaker Diego Echevarría Ibarra urged security and justice authorities to report their strategies and results for combating extortion in the form commonly known as “cobro de piso,” or protection-payment extortion, according to Jornada Baja California. The report said Echevarría described systematic extortion as a painful daily reality that has worsened despite what he called multiple efforts to confront it. He made the request before the Baja California Congress, where the source said it received support from lawmakers across different political blocs.

Jornada Baja California reported that Echevarría said the practice affects businesses ranging from small retailers and taco stands to industrial, restaurant and fishing companies. He characterized it as a criminal tax imposed through alleged direct violence, death threats, arson and armed attacks. The article also attributed to Echevarría a reference to official National Institute of Statistics and Geography, or Inegi, figures indicating more than 5,000 extortion cases per 100,000 residents in Baja California and an underreporting rate above 97 percent; those figures are attributed in the report to the lawmaker’s account of official Inegi data.

The report said businesses in Tijuana, Ensenada, San Quintín and Mexicali have faced alleged closures, attacks, payment demands or threats, while business groups have warned of reduced investment and abandoned leases. Echevarría directed his request for a detailed report to state Public Security Secretary Laureno Carrillo Rodríguez and Attorney General María Elena Andrade Ramírez. According to the source, he argued that criminal cells have become more sophisticated, but the article did not identify specific groups as responsible for the broader allegations or provide a response from the named officials.