TIJUANA NEIGHBORHOOD REELING IN FEAR AFTER RASH OF KILLINGS

TIJUANA -- The residents of Ejido Chilpancingo have grown accustomed
to the petty crime the drug trade brings to their working-class
neighborhood. The stolen cars. The house break-ins. The occasional
addict slumped on a street corner.

But the stakes grew dramatically higher this month when a citywide
killing spree moved into the neighborhood, which lies below the
assembly plants at the Otay Mesa border checkpoint.

On Jan. 14, three men eating at a family restaurant were gunned down
by a man armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. The next day, a little boy
found the corpses of two men lying in a ditch.

"The executions have us all worried," said Maurilio Sanchez Pachuca,
president of an Ejido Chilpancingo neighborhood organization. "We are
suffering from the narcotics trade, and it is a grave example for the
young people."

And the fears of this neighborhood are spreading throughout the
city.

Since the start of the new year, Tijuana has logged more than 30
killings. Authorities say about a dozen may be linked to organized
crime's narcotics dealings or immigrant-smuggling. State police are
alarmed at these growing signs of organized crime. But proof is hard
to come by, because few witnesses or acquaintances of the victims are
willing to come forward. When links are found, the cases are turned
over to federal authorities.

"What we are finding are the corpses, but little information," said
state Attorney General Juan Manuel Salazar Pimentel.

The homicides include:

A legal adviser for Grupo Beta, a special law-enforcement unit that
targets smugglers and other shadowy characters on the border, was
gunned down in front of the Hotel Conquistador at about midnight on
Jan. 4. Another man was killed at the scene, where authorities found
more than 100 bullet casings.

On Jan. 14, Lorenzo Guadalupe Favela Montoya, 30; his brother, Juan
Diego Favela Montoya, 26; and an unidentified man were hit by almost a
dozen bullets at La Palapa in Ejido Chilpancingo. No one else was injured.

A child found the corpses of Luis Enrique de la Torre, 29, and Carlos
Alberto de la Torre, 39 in a ditch in Ejido Chilpancingo on Jan. 15.
The victims had bruises on their bodies and marks on their wrists from
being tied. One had a bullet hole near his temple.

On Jan. 17, state police discovered the ossified remains of Bismarck
Hidalgo Corral, a former state police officer reported missing by his
family in December 1997, after he had left the force. Authorities had
to dig through layers of concrete and dirt to exhume the body, which
was buried behind a house.

Enrique Tellaeche, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office,
said this month's homicide statistics are alarming because they
include so many execution-style killings.

"It seems to be that the drug traffickers are using our territory to
resolve their differences," he said.

With presidential elections in July, Tijuana's violence is bleeding
into the collective consciousness of city dwellers. Residents say
candidates will have to offer solutions.

"There is a lack of results in resolving these crimes, and a lack of
punishment," said Chamber of Commerce President Arturo Gonzalez Cruz.
"That worries us a lot. We need a government that will take action
strongly and seriously against crime."

Crime is a concern on both sides of the border. But in San Diego, with
a population of 1.2 million, homicides have declined since 1991 when
they reached a record 167. Last year there were 58.

In comparison, Baja California police last year investigated almost
400 killings, stabbings and shootings in Tijuana, whose population is
near that of San Diego.

Gonzalez fears the recent spate of execution-style killings will take
its toll on Tijuana's economy. He said a growing number of business
people are leaving Tijuana to live in San Diego. Some are even taking
their businesses with them.

"The insecurity is defined by a line -- the border," he
said.

While the slayings have magnified the insecurity of Tijuana residents,
the gradual increase of other crimes is fraying their nerves.

Gonzalez's construction and plumbing-fixture business has been robbed
five times in the past few months. Each time, at least $1,000 was
taken from the cash register.

As some Mexicans move north to escape crime, U.S. residents may be
heading south to foment it. At Ejido Chilpancingo, residents say
unwelcome visitors from the United States roam the streets on weekends.

Their reason for being here is unclear. But in the past, San Diego
law-enforcement authorities have identified gang members from Barrio
Logan as go-betweens for the Baja California drug cartel headed by the
Arellano Felix brothers.

In Ejido Chilpancingo, Claudia Zarate, 31, closes the doors of her
home at 8 o'clock every night. From her barred windows she watches the
darkened streets. With her husband and two children safely inside, she
turns her attention to the television and radio.

After the shooting at La Palapa restaurant, "I am even more worried,"
she said. "We have to take even more precautions to make sure we are
safe."

La Palapa has been closed since the shooting.

It is a small building with a thatched roof, bamboo walls and palm
trees planted to give it a tropical ambience. This week, mothers
passed by the restaurant with baby strollers, and residents gathered
around a nearby food cart.

Maria Gutierrez, 29, who works at a nearby restaurant, recently moved
here from Durango with her husband and children. She is shocked by
Tijuana's crime rate.

"I believe it's because we are near the border, and things are just
more dangerous," she said.

Jose Julian Hernandez, 23, who grew up in Ejido Chilpancingo, adjusted
to Tijuana's dangers a long time ago.

"Someone is at the house all day, so we never leave it alone," he
said, his arms folded over his chest as he stood in front of the small
concrete building on a sunny afternoon.

Julian was standing at this spot when he heard the shots that killed
the three men at La Palapa about three blocks away. He heard the
diners' screams and saw their shadowy forms as they fled.

"That's a family-type restaurant, and it's very surprising to us that
this would happen here," he said. "We can't walk the streets in peace."