Tijuana bureaucracy fueling corruption and extortion, warns Hassan Franco

Hassan Martín Franco Ruiz, the General Secretary of the PAN in Tijuana, has warned that excessive municipal bureaucracy is fostering corruption and extortion in the city. Following a meeting with CANACO Tijuana business leaders, Franco Ruiz reported that administrative procedures have increased by approximately 25%.

Business owners have reported that certain environmental permits for formal businesses have been stalled for over a year. This delay creates a cycle where authorities threaten businesses with closure for lacking documents that the government itself has failed to process. Franco Ruiz stated that these conditions facilitate ‘moches’ (bribes) and extortion.

Local entrepreneurs estimate that these hurdles could lead to a 60% increase in informal commerce, as the rising costs and wait times make staying within the formal economy increasingly difficult.