4 Tijuana Officers Fired by Police Chief

Four Tijuana police officers have been fired for abusing their authority after journalists and researchers from the University of Baja California reported that the officers had attempted to extort money from them.

Municipal Police Chief Eduardo Bravo Quintero said he fired the officers Thursday, but denied newspaper reports that the men were engaged in extortion. According to the stories, the fired officers had approached several journalists and researchers from the university who pretended to seek illegal entry into the United States.

The stories that appeared in a Tijuana newspaper alleged that the officers stopped the group near the border and demanded $400 to let them continue their journey north.

However, Bravo said that the men were fired for harassing people at the border and using profane and abusive language in the presence of women.

The firings come in the wake of a series of stories by the newspaper ABC about corruption within the ranks of federal, state and municipal police agencies in Baja California.

Baja California state officials are also investigating charges by an American woman who said she was arrested at an Ensenada bar and raped by a jail guard.