Narco Surveillance Becomes More Sophisticated in Baja California

“Sol Prendido” for Borderland Beat 

Traffickers and hitmen from the Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) cartels have established illicit digital surveillance systems throughout Baja California. They have installed thousands of cameras at strategic locations to track the movements of law enforcement agencies—as well as those of their criminal rivals—in real time.

Evidence gathered thus far by authorities within the Security Roundtable suggests that the majority of the cameras and monitoring centers disabled over the last 14 months are linked to the “Mayos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) and its various operational arms across the state’s municipalities. Furthermore, in areas where the CJNG has wrested criminal control from the CDS, it has also seized control of the corresponding monitoring centers.

In the state’s Coastal Zone, authorities have identified key figures such as Franklin Ernesto Huezo Hernández (alias “El Ranchero”) and Jesús Rafael Yucupicio (“El Cabezón”), as well as the “Rusos” faction in Mexicali, led by Juan José Ponce Félix.

These surveillance systems are managed using SmartPSS Lite—”a lightweight video surveillance camera management software that provides direct access to the web client and features P2P connectivity, real-time monitoring, intelligent search and playback capabilities, event and alarm management, and centralized personnel administration (including single- or multi-card unlocking). It is not compatible with Windows or Macintosh computers.”

“The technology observed is sufficient to generate an operational advantage without requiring sophisticated infrastructure,” investigators noted.

The cameras disabled to date by the State Security Force (FESC) have been located on utility poles owned by the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE), on poles owned by Teléfonos del Noroeste (Telnor), on private ranches, and along federal highways. For the time being, agents are limiting their actions to simply removing the devices. In cases where devices were discovered in the private homes and businesses of residents within municipal urban areas, some residents have admitted to receiving payments from criminals—ranging from $50 to $100 per month—while maintaining that they cooperated under duress. This explanation has proven sufficient to prevent authorities from including them in their investigations.

These criminal monitoring centers possess the capacity and coordination to shield the execution of mafia-related criminal operations—specifically those involving human trafficking, street-level drug dealing, drug smuggling, and territorial control. Furthermore, criminal groups dedicate a portion of their organizational structure to this activity of “digital lookout”—a role predominantly carried out by young people.

In the month of March 2026 alone—specifically the period to date—three criminal monitoring centers have been located and secured in Baja California: one in Tijuana and two in Tecate.

*   On March 19, authorities secured a residence in Tecate, inside of which they discovered monitors used to control dozens of surveillance cameras.

*   On March 13, in the Las Torres neighborhood of Tijuana—acting on a report from the State Citizen Security Force—agents from the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) executed a search warrant on Magisterial Street. During the operation, they seized firearms, ammunition, three television screens, a computer monitor, three central processing units (CPUs), and three internet modems—equipment that enabled the surveillance of 66 cameras.

*   And, “…we had another instance in Tecate—also in March—involving a monitoring center operating via a mobile phone belonging to one of the arrested criminals. This is particularly noteworthy because the device provided access to more than 102 surveillance cameras,” General Laureano Carrillo, Secretary of Citizen Security for Baja California (SSCBC), stated to the press in Tecate on Saturday, March 28, though he did not specify the exact date or the circumstances surrounding the apprehension.

Carrillo Rodríguez took office as Secretary on January 20, 2025, and a month later announced the implementation of a program to remove illegal video surveillance cameras. He clarified that the use of such devices by private citizens wasn’t being prohibited, but warned that citizens’ video devices must be installed exclusively within their own premises and directed solely toward their own properties.

In this regard, last weekend he reported that, to date, 2,200 illegal video surveillance cameras have been removed during various operations on the streets of Baja California municipalities over a 14-month period. Of that total, 1,600 were disabled during 2025.

On several occasions, Carrillo has stated that five percent of these unauthorized cameras were seized in the immediate vicinity of drug-dealing hotspots.

Regarding the placement of the cameras, investigators highlighted “…the strategic value” of those installed near the border in Tijuana, Tecate, and Mexicali, noting that they “are typically used to monitor the movements of people crossing the border, detect the transport of human smugglers or migrants, anticipate police patrols or checkpoints, and secure transit or staging routes.”

CJNG ESTABLISHES SURVEILLANCE HUB AMIDST TURF WAR

On March 19, police officers identified two small, adjoining houses—each featuring two windows and an entrance door—equipped on the exterior with signal-receiving antennas and recreational areas, including a barbecue grill. The structures were located in one of Tecate’s highest-crime zones—the Nueva Colonia Hindú neighborhood—situated along a dirt road directly across from the residence marked with the number 5015, at coordinates 32.2855.6, -1163425.8.

Upon entering—armed with a search warrant—authorities discovered three monitors, along with their respective central processing units and internet modems. This system provided access to live feeds from cameras strategically positioned throughout the rural district. A total of 21 video devices were located and removed from the town’s main thoroughfares, including the entrances and exits of various sectors, high-traffic routes, and locations with a clear line of sight to the Tecate–Ensenada highway—points from which alerts regarding the presence or arrival of authorities were issued.

Based on the access log files, agents determined that additional cameras existed; however, in some instances, they were unable to pinpoint their exact locations despite the descriptive file names. “When we attempted to pull up the images during monitoring, we couldn’t access them; the system returned an error,” investigators explained.

In connection with the aforementioned operation, one individual—José Manuel—was taken into custody. He claimed to be a native of Ensenada and stated that he had arrived in the *Pueblo Mágico* (Magic Town) just three days prior. The exchange went something like this:

— “What are you doing here?” [they asked him].

“Just watching, bro.”

— “What are you watching?”

“Cameras.”

— “From where?”

“From different places, bro.”

— “Who are you monitoring this for?”

“Honestly, I don’t know anyone here, bro—I’m telling you that while looking you right in the eye.” Since he claimed to be 17 years old, no further information was elicited from him.

According to the law enforcement agencies participating in Baja California’s Peace and Security Coordination Roundtable, this facility was currently being managed by the Jalisco Cartel; however, it had originally been established by the Sinaloa Cartel. The surveillance hub was initially operated by criminals in the employ of Salomón Barragán (alias “El Salo”) and Ricardo López López (alias “El Chichi”). These individuals had previously engaged in criminal activity within Tecate on behalf of the “Mayos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, but they defected to the CJNG in December 2025 following the murder of Alejandro Castañeda Hernández (alias “El Cando”). 

Accounts from state agents indicate that it was precisely this “spotting” activity that allowed Ricardo López to escape an operation launched to capture him on March 14. (A witness had revealed his location at the time.) The operation took place at a property situated at kilometer 12 of the Tecate-Ensenada highway, in the Nueva Colonia Hindú area, where cockfights were being held.

López López has been identified as the ringleader of the hitmen belonging to this drug-trafficking cell; however, officially, he has only one criminal case on record against him. In December 2021, he was sentenced to eight months in prison for the crime of corruption of minors (specifically, indecent exposure) and ordered to pay a fine of 30 UMAs (3519.3 pesos). 

The incident occurred in February of that same year, when he approached a minor who was standing on the sidewalk outside her home and exposed his private parts to her.

Regarding the surveillance zones, the monitoring network in Tecate featured cameras positioned at specific points designated as: Delegación, Parra, Gasolinera, Taller, Yonke 12, Six Pedro, Gorditas, Kintas Marisol, Kinder, Lavadora, and others identified by the word “channel” [sic] followed by a number—references to specific drug-dealing locations.

The Baja California Attorney General’s Office (FGEBC) reported that, between 9:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., they executed a search warrant at the aforementioned residence. In addition to the surveillance equipment, authorities seized “two blue plastic packets found on the kitchen table containing a substance yet to be identified… as well as a gray Jeep Wrangler motor vehicle—serial number 1C4HJXDNXMW630707—which had been reported stolen abroad, with a report date of January 17, 2025, and case number M675-613-26.”

 IMAGES OF SINALOA CARTEL OPERATIVES IN TIJUANA

Prior to the incident in Tecate—at 3:10 p.m. on March 13, at the intersection of Calle de las Mariposas and 16 de Septiembre in the Las Torres neighborhood of Tijuana—officers from the Investigation Directorate of the State Citizen Security Force detained Brandon Crisóstomo Vázquez, a 19-year-old Tijuana native listed under National Detention Registry ID BC/FC/004/13032026/0085. The young man had previously been detained by the Municipal Police “for acts inducing vice.”

In the standardized police report, the arresting officers stated: “We were conducting crime deterrence and investigation duties (…) when, approximately three meters to our right, we observed a male subject of slender build, light-brown complexion, with long hair and a black beard, wearing a black sweater with a gray camouflage pattern, a black T-shirt, blue trousers, and black sneakers.”

“He was standing on the sidewalk… and upon noticing our presence—specifically when he spotted the official patrol unit—the male subject threw a transparent plastic bag onto the street. Inside the bag were small packets containing a substance that, to the naked eye, appeared to be individual doses of narcotics. Immediately following this action, he turned around, presenting his back to us and concealing his face.”

It was in this context that officers detained him. One of the officers “…verified the contents of the item thrown to the ground—which had never left their line of sight—and at 3:08 PM, observed that it was a transparent plastic bag containing 29 smaller transparent plastic packets. Each packet bore the inscription ‘MANSORY’—referring to a German firm that customizes super-luxury and sports vehicles such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Rolls-Royces, and Bentleys—printed in black lettering. These packets were heat-sealed and contained a white, granular substance that, to the touch, exhibited the characteristics of the drug known as methamphetamine.” Consequently, the suspect was transferred to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Retail Drug Trafficking in Tijuana.

Acting on leads stemming from the capture of this man—who is in his twenties—agents from the FESC (State Security and Investigation Force) proceeded to a residence located on Magisterial Street (between Mexico Street and Guadalajara Street) in the Magisterial neighborhood of the same municipality. At this location, they discovered a clandestine camera monitoring center operated by criminals, which was equipped with “multiple screens and several operators.”

Remarkably, the criminals were inadvertently captured on video by their own surveillance cameras while monitoring the screens; they had left several data storage devices containing these images behind at the residence. As a result, for the past 19 days, their faces—along with the data required to trace their identities—have been in the possession of the authorities comprising the Baja California Coordination Roundtable for Peace and Security. The center’s site report indicates the discovery of “several mini-monitors for cameras.” Regarding the distribution of these devices across the streets of Tijuana, the report notes “an organizational structure featuring specific names—such as ‘surveillance zones’—suggesting a network of segmented observation points, possibly linked to access points, transit routes, front businesses, or sites of operational interest.”

The list of locations was vague and included names such as: Delta 2, Esquina Verde, Pendiente, Sábado, Sábada, Barda, Barber, Base, Chava, Cilantro, Galán, Matamoros, Nopalera, Nipalera2, Primaria, Rody San Miguel, and Meño, among many others. According to preliminary reviews, the storage media contained footage dating back to the previous year.

During a press conference on Saturday the 28th, General Laureano Carrillo reported that the monitors provided access to surveillance feeds from 66 distinct locations, spanning from the Mesa de Otay border area southward.

* The Measurement and Update Unit (UMA) is an economic benchmark in Mexican pesos used to determine the amount of payment for various obligations established in federal and state laws and legal provisions. 

Source: Zeta Tijuana

Source: https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2026/04/narco-surveillance-becomes-more.html