The TJ GOODFELLAS are pleased to be a part of ClubHombre.com. We go to Tijuana a few times a week and we will submit trip reports whenever it seems right. Anyone who has questions regarding Tijuana, especially Zona Norte, can ask away...
The TJGOODFELLAS were in Zona Norte Friday night, 2/1/02. We had a few drinks at TROPICAL and were surprised to see over 200 "Forces Especial" Officers blocking off the streets. These weren't the typical Mayberry "Barney" types with their sometimes-empty guns.. These were the heavily armed, well-trained MP-5/M-16 carrying types with low patience levels. They went around the Zona, temporarily shutting down bars one by one. They went in, rounded up the customers and searched them for guns, drugs, etc. This type of thing is a rare attention-getter, but if you're couteous and not a scumbag, nothing bad will happen... Keep in mind that you are not just in a foreign country, but a foreign, Third World country... A free piece of advice from The TJGOODFELLAS.

They were also doing very heavy checks of girls health cards both in the bars and on the streets. They were doing street girls at least again tonight. The armed federales are still around town as well. There were 3 truckloads at 4th & Martinez around 7 PM, don't know where they were headed. Yesterday they were strolling Revolution and shut down 5th for a while.

I'm only here 7 nights a week but can't think of many questions guys sorry. I would like to know where the cheapest place to get a bottle of Don Julio Añejo (not Reposado or Blanco). Most stores don't even carry it.

Who was doing the checks of the health cards?

Well dressed guys in black jackets with radios and clipboards. I would assume SMM but they weren't wearing the SMM marked jackets.

I gather that SMM is responsible for the checks, but that any law enforcement personnel can check the chica's cards, as well.

I was there this weekend too and got the following information from a local. Apparently, some of the narcotrafficantes killed two cops, injured two others, and slashed the throat of a woman by the American Consulate. Not too far from the tourist-heavy Revo scene. So they shipped in 1200 soldiers from Mexico City to maintain a high enforcement profile and take care of business.

Either something was lost in translation or the local had it wrong. The 1200 policia federal preventiva were already deployed in Baja California when the incident you refer to took place.

I'm betting the local had it wrong. I have noticed that those of us Americans who follow the news frequently know more factual info about what is really going on in Mexico than many TJ locals do. I'm talking, of course, about major events, not knowing more about daily life.

Still, it was quite an awesome sight to see. I saw at least 15-20 truckloads of 10-12 soldiers caravaning into La Zona and shutting the place down. I've never seen that before. I've seen Adelita's get closed down for ID checks before, but this was something entirely new to me.