HAIL OF BULLETS KILLS TIJUANA POLICE CHIEF

TIJUANA, Baja California -- In the latest example of the murderous
violence that has gripped this border town, the municipal police chief
was assassinated Sunday morning by gunmen who sprayed his car with
more than 100 bullets as he drove along a busy highway, authorities
said.

Municipal Police Chief Alfredo de la Torre Marquez, 50, was driving
alone to his office after attending Mass when three cars closed in on
his black GMC Suburban and gunmen opened fire with at least one AK-47
assault rifle and a 9 mm handgun.

Riddled with bullet holes, de la Torre's vehicle crashed into a palm
tree on the side of the highway.

The windshield had more than a dozen bullet holes, and the three
windows on the driver's side had been shot out, as was the front
window on the passenger side, said Enrique Tellaeche, a spokesman for
the Baja California state attorney general's office in Tijuana.

Late Sunday, police said they still had no suspects but had seized
three "suspicious" cars in two nearby neighborhoods. Police had fanned
out across the city to interrogate people. One official said nearly
three dozen people were questioned but no arrests were made.

The killing adds to the list of dozens of police officers, judges,
prosecutors and other public figures who have have been slain in
Tijuana and its suburbs in recent years -- a violence spiral linked to
wars between competing drug cartels.

De la Torre was gunned down on the same expressway, Via Rapida, where
one of his predecessors as municipal chief, Federico Benitez Lopez,
was murdered in 1994 in a similar ambush. The death of Benitez --
thought to have been ordered by a drug cartel angered at his reformist
ways -- has never been solved.

In recent months, officers under de la Torre's command have been
conducting a crackdown on illegal-immigrant smugglers and small-time
drug users and pushers, particularly in the Zona Norte, an area near
the border known for prostitution, drugs and other criminal activities.

In a city with a long history of police corruption, de la Torre, a
career law enforcement officer who took over as chief in December
1998, was known for professionalism and honesty.

Tijuana Mayor Francisco Vega de la Madrid expressed shock and dismay
at the brazen slaying and promised that city police would assist state
police, who have jurisdiction in the case, to find the killers.

De la Madrid appointed an interim chief, Tijuana Police Commander
Carlos Besneyrigoyen, and appealed for calm from residents of the city.

Many in Tijuana said state authorities have been unable or unwilling
to gain the upper hand over crime.

Jesus Blancornelas, editor of the independent Tijuana weekly Zeta,
said Sunday that the state police are "powerless or incapable" in the
battle against crime. Blancornelas was the target of an assassination
attempt by drug traffickers in 1997.

Normally, de la Torre was protected by bodyguards except on Sunday,
which he reserved as a day for his family, officials said. In the back
seat of de la Torre's car were the bodyguards' two M-16 automatic rifles.

The killers reportedly used a classic pincers maneuver, with one car
moving in front of de la Torre's vehicle to slow him down and then two
other cars driving parallel to the Suburban, which had tinted windows
for security.

The municipal chief's force, which has about 1,200 officers, is
responsible for issuing traffic citations and patrolling the
neighborhoods of this sprawling city, which has a population of about
2 million.

Within hours of the killing, de la Torre's widow and teen-age daughter
visited the scene of the shooting.

Police cars and the municipal police headquarters in downtown Tijuana
were adorned with black bows.