Prosecutors said on Monday that a man suspected of being a drug dealer was killed in an armed attack on amateur rally drivers in Ensenada, a city in northern Mexico near the border with the United States. Nine other people died as a result.
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Alonso Arambula Piña, who was a pilot in the race, was “the target of this attack,” Baja California prosecutor Ricardo Ivan Carpio said at a news conference.
In his car, according to the same source, was an official from a municipality in the area, José Eduardo Orozco Piña, who was also killed.
Participants in an off-road race parked on the side of the road on Saturday when several hooded men got out of a van and opened fire in their direction.
The prosecutor stated that Mr. Arambula Piña had alleged ties to the Sinaloa cartel, led by the sons of US-incarcerated Joaquin “el Chapo” Guzmán, and that this attack was the result of disputes with the Tijuana cartel.
He added that “some” other victims “were involved in illegal activities, including drug trafficking,” without specifying whether they had died or if they were among the 10 injured. He also did not specify whether they were among the pilots.
With its desert plains, Baja California is a mecca for off-road vehicle racing, which attracts drivers from all over the world. One of the most famous is the Baja 1000 rally raid.
Mexico, mired in a spiral of violence, has left more than 400,000 dead and tens of thousands missing since a US-backed military anti-narcotics offensive began in 2006.
Sport is not spared. On May 15, six people, including three minors, were killed in an armed attack on supporters of a family-sponsored soccer game in Pachuca, Hidalgo state.