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Public Safety

Tijuana Police in Cartel Crosshairs; 4 Killed in a Week

Tijuana's Mayor says police are under fire because they aren't protecting drug traffickers like many used to.

Tijuana Mayor Jorge Ramos says the city's police force was once crippled by corruption.

He says officers used to coordinate logistics for drug cartel kidnappers and hit men.

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But Ramos says police are now attacking drug traffickers.

He says a recent string of threats and murders of police offices will not derail the offensive.

Suspected cartel hit men killed four policemen last week.

Authorities say gunmen also shot at federal police over the weekend.

Law enforcement authorities say it's all the work of a notorious drug trafficker called El Teo who's tied to Tijuana's Arellano-Felix drug cartel.

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Authorities say he's retaliating because law enforcement recently captured some of his top comrades.

Meanwhile, Baja California's Attorney General has formed a new group to investigate police killings.

State authorities have linked a gun used to kill a police officer on Saturday to seven other murders.

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