Police chief of Tijuana replaced by an Army Officer

The Pacific border town of Tijuana counted its bloodiest 48 hours to date this week, with 36 bodies found over two days. Twelve had been executed together, and were left decapitated and mutilated in a car park.

The sudden escalation led to the dismissal of police chief Alberto Capella Ibarra, who was interviewed by The Observer last month and warned: 'This war will continue so long as drugs are illegal and command high prices in the United States. Legalise the drugs, then the Americans can get high and we can live in peace.' The new police chief is Lieutenant-Colonel Julian Leyzaola, recently brought in to command the city's special forces. Mexico's state and municipal police have been heavily infiltrated by the cartels and the government has promised to bring them under its control.

Calderón's government is the first in Mexico seriously to confront the cartels, and the resultant war is in part a response.

Leyzaola told The Observer that the level of violence was the result of 'social terrorism' by the narcos. 'All I can do is to increase a police profile in the community to avert the kind of social psychosis that the narcos want to generate,' he said. 'I pledge physical presence to reassure people, and intelligence and manpower to fight the criminals themselves.'

The police chief in the Mexican border city of Tijuana has been removed from his post following a weekend in which 37 people were killed.

State authorities say Jesus Capella, who had received numerous threats, will be replaced by an army officer.

Mexico's border with the US is facing spiraling drug violence, and several police chiefs have either been murdered or arrested on corruption charges.

Three months of violence in Tijuana have claimed more than 300 lives.

Even by the current violent standards of the city, last weekend was particularly gruesome.

Of the 37 people killed, nine men - including three police officers - were found decapitated.

Four children also died, apparently caught in the crossfire.

Tras una nueva ola de violencia en Tijuana, destituyen a Jesús Alberto Capella como jefe de la Policía; en su lugar queda el teniente coronel Julián Leyzaola Pérez