Employee of U.S. Consulate Killed at Border State
Jose Nino
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Mexican law enforcement arrested two individuals who were suspected of being involved in the kidnapping and murder of a U.S. Consulate employee near Tijuana. Per a report from Breitbart News, these two individuals were suspected drug dealers.
According to an initial report by law enforcement, the victim was shot nine times. However, law enforcement changed its statement to reflect that the victim was only stabbed.
The killing of the consulate employee occurred last week when local law enforcement in Tijuana received a missing report. The report was for 35-year-old Edgar Flores Santos, a Mexican national employed U.S. Consulate for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Baja California Attorney General’s office (FGE) released information revealing that authorities found Flores’ body the next afternoon at a ranch just outside of Tijuana.
In addition, investigators were able to find his government-issued vehicle. There are still questions about where the victim was originally kidnapped, although he was found wearing his work clothes.
State authorities initially stated that Flores received nine gunshot wounds. Later on, the statement was modified to say that he was a victim of a lethal knife attack.
Upon receiving news of this incident, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Christopher Landau expressed his condolences and said that the U.S. and Mexico would get to the bottom of this case.
According to a report from the local TV station XEWT, state investigators apprehended two men linked to the case and are now facing only drug related charges. It has yet to be determined if the authorities will press murder charges against the individuals or if they are searching for other suspects.
A report from Zeta Tijuana revealed that the area where Flores’ body was found is viewed as dangerous by locals. On a previous occasion, local officials requested that state authorities patrol the area even more.
This is just another example of how Mexico is still institutionally fragile. In 2019, Mexico experienced over 35,000 homicides and state security forces are routinely outgunned by cartels.
U.S. policymakers should take this into account when discussing border policy and recognize that maintaining the border policies of previous administrations is not sustainable.
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