Cartel killings are continuing at an alarming rate in Tijuana with 41 homicides registered since April 16—raising the total number for 2018 to 691.

From April 1 to date, 147 cases were documented, according to local media reports and Breitbart Texas law enforcement sources.

Three reported killings were reported on Monday, April 23. The first occurred in la colonia México Lindo at 7:50 pm where an unknown male was killed by gunfire. The second was reported at 8:30 pm in colonia Campos where three males were attacked by multiple gunmen, resulting in two dying from their wounds and the third transported to a hospital, according to local reports.

The weekend violence showed no signs of reduction as five men were killed in less than 12 hours, between Saturday night, April 21, and Sunday morning, April 22, in various parts of the city, according to local media reports.

The deadly 12-hour span began at 3:45 am in colonia Praderas de la Gloria where two men were shot and one was pronounced dead at the scene–the second was transported to a hospital.

The next killing was reported at 5:41 am when motorists passing through colonia Ampliación Guaycura witnessed an armed attack. Upon arrival of emergency personnel, they discovered a deceased male victim later identified Jesús Solórzano Guillén, 38, with a gunshot wound to the head.

At 8:44 am, investigators from the state attorney general’s office were summoned to colonia Valle de las Palmas regarding a suspicious bag abandoned in a road. Investigators discovered the human remains of an unknown male with signs of trauma.

An hour later at 9:50 am, authorities responded to a call of a subject down in colonia Jardines de la Mesa, where an unknown male murder victim was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound.

Breitbart Texas previously reported on 11 registered murders during a 24-hour span for the week of April 16, which brought the monthly total to 650 as of last Tuesday.

The cartel violence in the city has been attributed to a resurgence of remnants from the Cártel de Los Arellano Félix, which is now operating under the name of Cártel Tijuana Nueva Generación (CTNG). The group aligns itself with El Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación.

The two criminal groups are engaged in a turf dispute with the Sinaloa Cartel. In some areas, rival factions within the Sinaloa Cartel are fighting for control of the lucrative street-level markets and valuable routes leading into the United States.

Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com.