DRUG GANGS SPAWN TIJUANA VIOLENCE

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) -- There would seem to be little mystery in who
was behind the killing of Tijuana's police chief, mowed down in a hail
of 99 bullets in the hometown of one of the world's largest drug
organizations.

But there is. Nearly a decade after the Arellano Felix drug gang burst
into headlines with their Al Capone-style shootouts in this booming
border city, their methods have spread.

Violence is so pervasive, and so brazen, that almost anyone could be
responsible for Sunday's slaying of Tijuana police Chief Alfredo de la
Torre.

``The fact is that in this city, when they kill someone in that way,
it doesn't necessarily mean it's drug smuggling any more,'' said Jesus
Blancornelas, publisher of Tijuana's Zeta magazine, who was badly
wounded in a 1997 gangland-style attack. ``Those methods have turned
into a culture of crime.''

Tijuana is probably the most violent city in Mexico. With 1.2 million
people sprawled along the border with San Diego, it has seen more than
70 murders this year alone -- more than one a day.

Baja California state, which includes Tijuana, had a 1999 crime rate
more than double that of any other state in Mexico, according to
figures published this week in Zeta.

``Violence has become such a daily occurrence that people aren't
shaken by it any more,'' said Victor Clark Alfaro, director of
Tijuana's Binational Center of Human Rights.

``People have changed their habits. Many don't go out at night any
more. Many of us put up fences around our homes. Bodyguards and
armored cars have become common.''

On Tuesday, top federal, state and local authorities announced a new
plan to combat crime in Baja California state that included the
equivalent of an extra $32 million, more anti-drug surveillance and
pledges to improve cooperation among different law enforcement branches.

Clark Alfaro said most of the violence isn't driven by the Arellano
Felix cartel any more, but by smaller-time smugglers of drugs,
immigrants, weapons and vehicles who have imitated the brazen violence
the cartel pioneered.

``The big gangs have become globalized, and now resemble multinational
corporations,'' he said. ``They're the last ones to want so much
violence, because it puts all the attention on them.''

In the case of de la Torre, a popular police chief who worked his way
up from motorcycle patrolman to the city's top cop, investigators say
they have found no evidence so far to link his death to drug gangs.

As for the style of the slaying, state attorney general's spokesman
Enrique Tellaeche said: ``Not all murders are carried out by drug
smugglers, even if they appear to be.''

``The techniques of killing people have been copied. If you want to
kill someone and don't want us to figure out it's you, kill him in a
hail of bullets and dump his body on the street.''

De la Torre was killed while driving to his office along a busy
highway after Mass on Sunday morning. Three cars pulled up alongside
his black Chevy Suburban and opened fire with 9-mm pistols and
Kalashnikov rifles.

The Suburban, pocked by bullet holes, swerved off the road and crashed
into a palm tree.

Investigators interviewed 70 people, mostly witnesses, but still have
no suspects, according to Sofia Buerba, spokeswoman for the state
attorney general's office.

Few in Tijuana are optimistic that they will find any
soon.

``Along with the culture of crime, there is a culture of silence,''
Blancornelas said. ``If anyone saw them kill de la Torre, they won't
say anything. They don't want problems.''

But authorities say de la Torre's prominence will help them to focus
attention on the problem. On Tuesday, Mexico's attorney general and
its interior secretary were traveling to Tijuana to discuss crime.

And officers who served under de la Torre vowed to find his
killers.

``We're going to get them. You'll see,'' Omar Fierro Villanueva, a
former personal bodyguard of de la Torre, said at his boss' wake,
pausing several times to hold back his tears.

``We're going to look under every rock. If the rocks can talk, we'll
make them talk.''

After a memorial Mass for de la Torre on Tuesday, mourners held
emotional honor ceremonies in which friends and colleagues delivered
speeches and stood at attention alongside his coffin.

``These regrettable events have provoked indignation in all sectors of
our society,'' said Tijuana Mayor Francisco Vega de la Madrid during a
ceremony held in front of City Hall. ``The situation has reached
intolerable levels. Tijuana's citizens demand an end to this climate
of horror.''