Mexicans seize 105 tons of marijuana

TIJUANA, Mexico – Mexican security forces seized at least 105 tons of U.S.-bound marijuana in the border city of Tijuana on Monday, by far the biggest pot bust in the country in recent years.

Soldiers and police grabbed the drugs in pre-dawn raids in three neighborhoods after police arrested 11 people following a shootout, army Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mujica said at a news conference.

The marijuana was found wrapped in 10,000 packages, which were displayed to journalists by soldiers in masks. Duarte said the drug had an estimated street value in Mexico of 4.2 billion pesos, about $340 million.

Duarte said authorities were still counting and weighing the packages and that the amount could increase. He said the drugs would be incinerated immediately after the weighing and counting is completed.

The bust began when Tijuana municipal police on patrol came under fire from gunmen in a convoy of vehicles, Duarte said. One police officer and one suspect were injured.

Police arrested 11 people who were traveling in the convoy and called the army and state police for reinforcements, Duarte said.

The detainees led the security forces to three different Tijuana neighborhoods where the drugs were found stored in tractor trailers and houses, he said.

Duarte said local criminal gangs were gathering the drugs to smuggle into the United States. He did not identify any of the gangs or say where the marijuana originated.

Although Mexican drug cartels smuggle marijuana from South America, the drug is increasingly produced in Mexico.

Cannabis production in Mexico increased 35 percent to 29,652 acres in 2009, from 21,991 acres the previous year, according to the U.S. State Department’s 2010 International Narcotics Control report.

The seizure comes as overall marijuana confiscation and crop eradication has dropped in Mexico.

Security forces seized 1,385 tons of marijuana in 2009, down from a yearly average of 2,000 tons in previous years, according to the U.S. report. It said Mexico eradicated 34,927 acres of cannabis in the first 11 months of last year, compared to 46,116 acres in all of 2008.

The Tijuana bust came a little over a week after President Felipe Calderon visited the border city and called it a success in his drug war.

Last week, in the wake of Calderon’s visit, several bodies were found beheaded and hanging from bridges in Tijuana, leading to fears that the cartels were resuming brutal tactics to send a message that the government is not in control.