According to a news release, Tijuana Police stated that under order from the mayor, several inspections and checkpoints have produced 34 arrests of migrants reportedly for public intoxication, disturbing the peace, resisting police and some were found to be in possession of drugs including cocaine and methamphetamine.
PoliciaTijuanaSSPM (@SSPMTijuana) tweeted the following on Monday, “For possessing drugs, drinking intoxicating drinks on public roads and disturbing the order, 34 members of the migrant caravan have been arrested, who were sent before the Municipal Judge to be later placed at the disposal of the National Institute of Migration (INM).”
With an estimated 4,000-6,000 participants of the main caravan, the 34 arrested make up less than 1% of the group.
VOA News reported that Tijuana Mayor Juan Manuel Gastelum has been very clear on his disapproval of those arriving last week in the caravan, and compared the Central American group to the 3,000+ Haitians who conducted themselves much differently than the current group.
“The Haitians arrived with their papers, with a clear vision,” Gastelum said in an interview posted on the city’s Facebook page. They came “in an orderly way, they never asked us for food or shelter,” renting apartments and making their own food. He said the Haitians found jobs and “inserted themselves in the city’s economy” and had not been involved in any disturbances.
Gastelum went on to describe the caravan of Central Americans as having “arrived all of sudden, with a lot of people – not all… but a lot – were aggressive and cocky.”
The Tijuana Mayor went on to publicly call the Mexican federal government out on their lack of preparation for the caravan which is costing the city tons in resources dishing out food, clothing and shelter to accommodate the migrants’ arrival.
“My message is anti-drug use, anti-drunkenness, anti-law-breaking, my message is against all that,” Gastelum said in his statement.”
