Japanese traveler shot to death in Mexican port city of Ensenada
UPDATED! May 3, 2008
Speculation on Motives goes wild in Ensenada
Wonder if it could be related to other activities that the tuna pen custodian boats could be involved in? Maybe they were snitching on seeing human or other contraband going by on boats? Many boats coming ashore in SD lately, bringing loads of drugs and immigrantes.
Many think the boom in Mexican farmed bluefin tuna is financed by the narcos dirty money as a money laundering operation.Mexico is now the largest exporter of bluefin tuna to Japan. Their exports of bluefin tuna peaked in 2005 and have been declining since then. Wild or free range bluefin tuna demand much, much more money than farmed tuna. Additionaly, the Japanese buyers are demanding that farm raised tuna protocols provide for sustainablity of the fishery.Perhaps the protocol demands and decreasing prices for "farm" raised bluefin was a bit too much for someone on the dirty side of the equation?
http://www.infofish.org/marketreports/tuna-bluefin0107us.html
Man fatally shot in Mexico identified
MEXICO CITY (Kyoto) A Japanese man found dead at a port in Ensenada, Mexico, has been identified as Hiroshi Kato, the 48-year-old vice president of an overseas affiliate of Tokyo-based Explorer Corp., the company said. Kato had worked in Mexico for about six years, overseeing the export of bluefin tuna to Japan, according to the company. [He was killed by a shooter using an AK-47.]
Original Story:
TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) -- A Japanese businessman has been shot to death in the Mexican port city of Ensenada.
Prosecutors say an unidentified gunman sprayed businessman Hiroshi Kato with bullets Monday outside the offices of the fisheries firm Operadora Pesquera de Oriente. The company exports tuna to Japan.
Police do not yet have information on a possible motive.
Ensenada is located in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California, also the home to the tough border city of Tijuana.
Tijuana has been hit by a wave of violent crime and drug shootouts in recent months.
(Mainichi Japan) April 29, 2008 See Japanese Report Here
###On April 22 an Ensenada event was canceled because of the Baja Crime Wave:
Attacks on tourists, economy pull plug on Ensenada event
San Diego UNION-TRIBUNE
April 22, 2008
Citing Americans' fear of driving into Mexico after recent attacks on tourists there, Western Outdoor News officials have canceled the June 6-7 saltwater fishing tournament in Ensenada.
“We're hoping to do the tournament next year when this settles down, but we felt it was best to cancel it this year,” said Pat McDonell, editor of Western Outdoor News.
McDonell said that issue combined with the sagging U.S. economy left Western Outdoor News no choice. “It's a sad deal because the economy in Ensenada gets a tremendous boost from the tournament,” McDonell said. “I feel terrible about it, but this is a business, and the bottom line is people are afraid to drive into Mexico right now. They'll fly down, but they won't drive.”
McDonell had planned on leading an armada of boats that would have left the Shelter Island launch ramp and traveled to Ensenada by water. He said the tournament would have drawn a decent field that way, but it would have lacked the trailerboaters who would have made the drive to Ensenada.
Original San Diego story HERE
###
Weapons seized after shootouts between rival gangs that claimed at least 13 lives have been linked to eight other high-profile crimes in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach and Ensenada
Those crimes include last month's killings of two Mexican migrant protection officers in Tijuana's Colonia Libertad neighborhood near San Ysidro, an assassination attempt in December on Rosarito Beach's police chief, and the November theft from Ensenada's morgue of the body of a drug trafficker killed during the Baja 1000 off-road race.
The weapons are also tied to the attack in 2006 on a crowded Tijuana restaurant that killed a U.S. citizen and a waitress.
American tourists have been killed and kidnapped in Baja tourist areas since 2006. Anyone who says different is not telling you the truth.
Don't get lied to. Follow the headlines here at:
Baja Racing News.com EXCLUSIVE