Mexico Pledges Action Against 2 of Its Officers : Border: Federal policemen who allegedly accosted American tourists in Tijuana were arrested with cars stolen in the United States. They will be flown directly to Mexico City for trial.

The Mexican attorney general’s office Tuesday pledged swift action against two Mexican federal police officers who were arrested in U.S. territory in a border confrontation with U.S. Customs inspectors after accosting a carload of returning tourists at gunpoint.

Customs agents here turned over the Mexican officers to a high-ranking Mexican official dispatched from the Los Angeles consulate Tuesday. The suspects will be flown directly to Mexico City to be tried.

It was the third case of cross-border lawbreaking involving Mexican police in a week. The officers and two accomplices brandished an AK-47 assault rifle and handguns as they pursued the tourists through traffic at the San Ysidro port of entry and forced them back into Mexico. The assailants persisted even after being challenged by U.S. Customs inspectors with drawn guns in front of stunned motorists Sunday morning, authorities said.

The federal officers had engaged in a minor traffic altercation with the tourists in Tijuana, police said. One officer was drunk and a small quantity of cocaine was found in the officers’ Ford Mustang and pickup truck, which had been stolen north of the border, according to Juan Miguel Ponce Edmonson, the Mexican attorney general’s attache in Los Angeles.

“The U.S. authorities have agreed to drop charges and the suspects will be charged in Mexico,” Ponce said. “This shows the spirit of cooperation and goodwill between the authorities. We hope to make something good out of a bad incident.”

The confrontation occurred after two cases in which Tijuana police have been directly implicated in car thefts around San Diego. Last Wednesday, police in suburban Coronado arrested a Baja California police detective, Ruben Lazaro Osorio, as he allegedly supervised the theft of a Jeep Cherokee. On Friday, San Diego police arrested three car thieves who admitted they were sent north by two Baja California police detectives to steal Mustangs and Chevrolet Blazers for a fee of $300 per vehicle.

The arrests were a graphic reminder that Mexican police routinely drive vehicles stolen in California--and personally participate in auto theft rackets. Police said the problem may be getting worse because the term of the current Baja California administration is in its final months and corruption traditionally escalates.

“They are being more brazen right now,” a San Diego detective said. “There are government officials involved, and they are actively taking part in it.”

San Diego elected officials expressed alarm about the incursions by Mexican officers, echoing Mexican critics’ laments over pervasive corruption.

“The citizens of San Diego are afraid of being robbed by Mexican police officers and people in cooperation with officials on the other side of the border,” said U.S. Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Imperial Beach). “It’s embarrassing as hell to Mexico. I can see why the attorney general is concerned, and well he should be. If it were the reverse, if American agents were conducting a car theft ring in Mexico, there would be hell to pay.”

The two federal officers involved in Sunday’s border incident were identified as Cesar Rafael Gameros Lopez and Javier Sanchez Avalos. The other two suspects were described as paid civilian enforcers, known as madrinas . They all face potential charges of abuse of authority, attempted kidnaping and drugs and weapons violations, Ponce said.