A group of Colombian thieves responsible for violent home invasions in the Lomas Hipódromo and Hacienda Agua Caliente neighborhoods of Tijuana possessed inside information regarding the security systems at the targeted residences; furthermore, they received intelligence and protection from the municipal police.
Business organizations informed ‘ZETA’ that, following the burglary of five homes in the Privada Las Plazas complex in Hacienda Agua Caliente on the night of October 4, no further similar incidents have been reported—though such crimes had previously occurred in the Lomas Hipódromo subdivision.
In an area east of Avenida De las Ferias, one of the affected families—who own a pharmacy located behind the Puerta de Hierro subdivision—suffered a break-in during which an elderly man was beaten. “They are hardworking people; between 2008 and 2010, their son was kidnapped, and now, masked individuals have completely emptied their home.” However, the family did not file a formal statement with the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office.
“When I served as police chief in Tlalnepantla (in 2003), similar crimes were recorded in areas including Miguel Hidalgo, Naucalpan, Tlalnepantla, and Atizapán. There was a gang nicknamed ‘Los Cerillos’—they were Colombian. They would break in at night wearing masks; if people were inside, they would tie them up and lock them away. They typically operated on weekends.”
“They would use the victims’ own vehicles to transport the stolen goods—silverware, vases, paintings, and watches. They avoided taking computers or anything that could be tracked. They would strip the house bare, and by the time the residents returned from their weekend trips—usually by Monday or Tuesday—the thieves had already moved everything to the airport. What I’ve seen now is striking; it is exactly the same ‘modus operandi’,” he recalled.
These groups have been detected in various parts of the country. On September 22, 2026, following a shootout in Mexico City, 27-year-old Colombian national Milton Eduardo “N” was arrested alongside three accomplices; he had a prior record for residential burglary in Florida, United States. Footage from the Control and Command Center (C4) and other investigative evidence linked him to a high-value burglary at a residence in Saltillo, Coahuila, which took place that same month.
In August 2026, three Colombian nationals—Raúl, Hugo, and Luz—were apprehended in Morelos after an investigation identified them as being responsible for another major residential burglary, this one at a home in the Coto San Nicolás gated community in Aguascalientes. According to the investigation, they gained entry to the residential complex by using an electronic toll collection device (a “TAG”)—a system used in Mexico for the automated, cashless payment of highway tolls, urban expressway fees, and parking charges.
Between March and June 2025, two gangs of Colombian nationals—based in the Tepito neighborhood of Mexico City—were dismantled in Baja California Sur; they had been targeting homes in luxury gated communities and tourist areas. Other cells of thieves sharing the same nationality and *modus operandi* had previously been apprehended in November 2024, in the states of Sonora and Hidalgo.
The criminals arrived on San Antonio Street—located behind the Privada Las Plazas gated community—in two white cars. They parked at the base of a nearby hill, climbed approximately 12 to 15 meters, and entered the complex through an area now blocked by a chain-link fence—a fence that residents claim was not there on the night of the burglary. They then broke into five houses on the same street by scaling the perimeter walls.
The owners were not present at the first four homes, but the properties were equipped with surveillance cameras; Judging by the way they approached the cameras to move them, “it was clear they knew exactly where the devices and the equipment controlling them were located, as they barely appeared in any of the footage.”
The owners of these homes declined to file formal complaints, though, unofficially, there was talk of substantial losses—far exceeding the $20,000 figure mentioned in the press.
The individuals involved are prominent business figures—former leaders of industry associations with close ties to the government—who agreed to meet with officials from the State Attorney General’s Office only to state that they did not trust the Morena party or its authorities; they refused to file complaints or hand over security camera footage. The only formal complaint was filed by the owner of the residence that was occupied at the time—the one the thieves saved for last.
The victimized family explained that when the thieves entered—dressed in black and carrying long guns (“there were six or eight of them, and they all spoke with a Colombian accent”)—they held the father captive and restrained him. They began pressuring him, demanding to know the location of the safe; he replied that he didn’t have one. “Where is the money?” they asked. They beat him—striking him with the butt of a submachine gun—until he handed over cash. The victim felt that his life and the lives of his family were in danger.
