4 Officers Are Fired in Tijuana Police Inquiry

Four officers were fired for abusing their authority and the police chief pressed an internal investigation of the Police Department after some of its members were accused of extortion.

In another action, the Baja California state attorney general for the defense of the tourist has asked state authorities to investigate an American woman’s claim that she was raped by a jail guard in Ensenada.

Municipal Police Chief Eduardo Bravo Quintero said Thursday that he fired the four officers because they had been harassing people at the California-Mexico border. The firings followed a series of stories in a Tijuana newspaper, ABC, focusing on alleged corruption among local, federal, state and municipal police agencies.

According to one of the stories, municipal officers tried to extort money from several journalists and researchers from the University of Baja California pretending to seek illegal entry into the United States.

Bravo disputed newspaper allegations involving money demands. He said the officers involved were dismissed because they abused their authority by harassing people at the border.

“We will not tolerate this type of activities in the department,” he said.