Tough on Tucanes

This week, Tijuana’s secretary of public security, Julián Leyzaola Pérez, called for the revival of the death penalty in Mexico for those convicted of killing police officers. Leyzaola said that those who kill police should receive 40- to 60-year sentences. For those in law enforcement who aid and abet crime, he wants to triple the current penalties.

Leyzaola also called for increased use of the penal colony on Isla María Madre (off the west coast of Mexico) to house prisoners facing long sentences. Leyzaola wants to isolate the worst offenders on the island prison to prevent them from having the ability to run their operations while incarcerated.

As a final salvo against crime, Leyzaola wants the norteño narcocorrida singing group Los Tucanes de Tijuana to be banned from performing. Asserting the band foments “la cultura narcotrafico” with their lyrics, Leyzaola is asking the public to refuse buying their music.

A recent survey by Tijuana’s Frontera newspaper found that 52 percent of Tijuana citizens had a family member who was a crime victim in 2009. Forty-nine percent of citizens polled supported increased penalties, including the implementation of the death penalty; 85 percent felt that penalties for public officials and police officers involved in criminal activity should be more severe.

Sources: La Segunda, Frontera