Mexican authorities question 16 Tijuana cops

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE

July 25, 2006

TIJUANA – Federal authorities detained 16 police officers at a city substation yesterday and said they need to question about three dozen more officers.

The motive of the investigation wasn't made public, but it centers on the Mesa de Otay police station near the Otay Mesa border checkpoint, where 97 city police officers are based.

Some of the officers were released after being questioned yesterday afternoon.

Federal authorities typically conduct mass detentions of police officers when they are investigating ties to drug-trafficking rings.

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16 Tijuana officers questioned Monday

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE

July 26, 2006

TIJUANA – Mexico's attorney general said yesterday that Monday's interrogations of city police officers was part of an investigation into the May killing of a federal agent.

Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, speaking at a Tijuana news conference, wouldn't say if any police officers were suspects, but he said Monday's actions are part of an effort to clean up law enforcement agencies infiltrated by criminals.

He didn't, however, address how one of the interviewed officers – José Saul Curley Dominguez – continues to be with the Tijuana police force even though a warrant has been issued for Curley's arrest in the United States.

“The process of getting rid of criminal elements . . . is a continuous and permanent process that we are always working on,” Cabeza de Vaca said.

Federal authorities are interviewing at least 52 city police officers in relation to the killing of the federal agent, who was ambushed at a Tijuana office where a multi-agency police force is based.