A man suspected of being a drug trafficker was killed in an armed attack on amateur car rally drivers, which caused the death of nine other people Saturday, May 20 in Ensenada, a city in northern Mexico near the border with the United States, said Monday the prosecutor's office.
Alonso Arambula Piña, who participated in the race as a driver, was "the target of this attack," Baja California prosecutor Ricardo Ivan Carpio said at a press conference. In his car was an official working for a municipality in the region, José Eduardo Orozco Piña, who was also killed, according to the same source.
"Illegal activities"
On Saturday, participants in an off-road race were parked on the side of a highway when several hooded men emerged from a pickup truck and opened fire in their direction. The prosecutor explained that Alonso Arambula Piña had alleged links to the Sinaloa cartel, led by the sons of Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzmán (who is incarcerated in the United States) and that the attack was the result of disputes with the Tijuana cartel.
He added that "some" other victims were involved "in illicit activities, including drug trafficking," without specifying whether they had died or were among the ten injured. He also did not say whether they were among the pilots. Baja California, with its desert expanses, is a mecca for off-road vehicle races in which drivers from all over the world participate. One of the most famous is the "Baja 1000" rally-raid.
Mexico, mired in a spiral of violence, has recorded more than 400,000 dead and tens of thousands missing since the launch of a US-backed military anti-drug offensive in 2006. Sport is not spared. On 15 May, six people, including three minors, were killed in an armed attack on fans of a football match organised by a family in Pachuca, central Hidalgo state.
