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Public Safety

Drug-Related Killings Continue In Tijuana

The arrest of a notorious drug gang leader who operated in Tijuana has not put an end to drug-related killings there. More than 20 people have been murdered since Teodoro Garcia Simental was detained.

Drug gang gunmen were killing again just hours after Mexican authorities detained Teodoro Garcia Simental known as "El Teo."

A note left at a murder site advertised "El Teo" is still calling the shots.

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Patricia Escamilla-Hamm is a national security researcher at Colef in Tijuana.

She says listening to government officials' statements about big arrests, like Garcia Simental's, you can hear they're not as optimistic as they used to be. "Now you can see it is, yeah this is great, but, we are aware that the leadership will be renewed quickly," said Escamilla-Hamm.

There's consensus among U.S. and Mexican authorities that there is still work to be done in order to control crime in Tijuana.

Baja California's Attorney General says state and federal forces are ready for any retaliation.

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