Cartel warfare has threatened to spill into California as a Mexican border city was engulfed in violence following the killing of a notorious drug kingpin.
Suspected narco-terrorists torched vehicles at the border wall in Tijuana, a stone’s throw from San Diego, set up roadblocks and targeted local businesses on Monday.
Haunting footage showed a major highway that runs parallel to the United States completely shut down while cops cautiously inspected a burning car.
Horrific scenes erupted across Mexico after Jalisco cartel boss Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes was killed during a special forces raid in the mountain town of Tapalpa.
Vengeful gang members quickly brought hell to cities across the country, with the popular tourist resort Puerto Vallarta bearing the brunt.
Violence has also spread farther up the west coast, with local media reports detailing attacks in parts of Baja California and as close to the US as Tijuana.
Reporter Jorge Ventura shared a terrifying view of the city on Monday, showing multiple cars had been torched within sight of the border wall.
In one clip, a burned-out vehicle with its trunk open was surrounded by armed Mexican soldiers just feet away from the towering fence.
Another video showed a different car engulfed in flames on a major highway running alongside the gateway to America.
Ventura said: “Right next to us is the US-Mexico border wall. About an hour ago cartels burnt a vehicle on this major highway.
“Once again sending a message to the Mexican government, also possibly the US government.” He later warned: “This could be the start of unrest in Tijuana later into the night.”
Local cops reportedly arrested 25 suspected gang members since Sunday over burning cars, setting up blockades and attacking small businesses.
Tijuana is a major border crossing between California and Mexico, with around 200,000 pᴀssing through San Ysidro and Otay Mesa every day, around 50 million a year.
US Customs and Border Protection confirmed on Monday all entrances to the country in the Southwest are still “open and fully operational” and “there are no planned closures.”
The violence followed the dramatic arrest and killing of Jalisco cartel boss Oseguera Cervantes in a daring raid on Sunday.
Mexico’s Defense Secretary Ricardo Trevilla said intelligence agents hunted him down to a secluded compound through one of his girlfriends.
They discovered the woman was taken to Tapalpa, a mountainside getaway community in Jalisco where Oseguera and his militia were hiding out.
While the girlfriend eventually left the resort, El Mencho and his men remained holed up until the Mexican military deployed its special forces to take them out.
Once the troops got inside, heavily armed men fired at the soldiers, leading to a gunfight and chase in the woods near the resort that resulted in the deaths of four cartel members.
Three others were critically injured and died while being transported to a hospital in Mexico City, including Oseguera.
