Tijuana's elite, escaping drug violence, flee to San Diego
"Real estate agents, business owners and victims groups estimate that more than 1,000 Tijuana families -- including those of doctors, lawyers, law enforcement officials, Lucha Libre wrestlers and business owners -- have [moved from Tijuana to San Diego County] in recent years as the drug-fueled violence has worsened," writes the Times' Richard Marosi in this story.
"People have arrived in south San Diego County with only the clothes on their back. Kidnapping victims released after lengthy captivities have shown up long-haired and disheveled, sometimes with fresh wounds."
"Real estate agents tell of clients with fingers missing, sliced off by kidnappers who sent them to relatives as proof the victims were alive."
Photo: Erik Hernandez washes the car of a Tijuana businessman in Eastlake. Hernandez, who commutes daily from a poor area of Tijuana, says he works all day for Mexicans who demand anonymity and pay well. Credit: Don Bartletti, Los Angeles Times
