Protest in Ensenada calls for security after murders of foreign surfers

The Baja California Sufi community held a protest this Sunday in the city of Ensenada, to demand greater security after the murders of foreign surfers whose bodies were found last Friday. According to Mexican authorities, the Robinson brothers, Jake and Callum, as well as their American friend Jack Rhoad, all in their early thirties, were victims of armed robbers interested in stealing the tires of the truck they were using. After the protest, surfers from Baja California paid homage to the three dead surfers with a paddle in San Miguel, the most traditional peak in the region.

+Three bodies found in Baja California are those of missing surfers, police say

Hardcore contacted Peruvian oceanographer Gino Passalacqua, resident of Ensenada and vice-president of the Baja Surf Club, to find out how the community of surfers living in the region is reacting to the latest events in the region where they live and surf. Gino said he was personally very shaken, as were his surfing and travel companions along the extensive peninsula famous worldwide for its perfect waves and natural beauty. Below is Passalacqua’s emotional statement:

“I speak as a local who surfs in this region with his family and friends, a father of children who surf and with whom I have camped at the peak where the deaths occurred. We are shocked that this happened, sad, angry, disconcerted, appalled and scared. This tragedy reflects the situation in which Baja California in particular, and Mexico in general, finds itself, where surfing is important, part of the culture, part of tourism, part of the interaction between the United States and Mexico, and other countries. It is a regrettable act, it seems fortuitous, but not that fortuitous. I believe people were at the wrong time and didn’t have much knowledge of Baja California. Apparently it was through the truck, which was big, which is what narcos like around here. They put up resistance and were killed. On Friday, when we officially found out that the bodies had been found, the community came together and through WhatsApp we organized ourselves, all the surfers in Baja California, and we came together saying that we had to do something immediately. We all said that this demonstration had to be made. It was up to me to speak in the water, during the ‘paddle out’. It was something very exciting. We were in tears because we felt very vulnerable, directly affected without being able to do anything, sad in the face of this situation, so horrendous and so difficult. The Australian press interviewed me, I apologized with embarrassment, trying to understand how we can solve this and protest to the authorities, as this is a lack of political will, mixed with the drug trafficking situation and the problems in Latin countries Americans.”

Local surfers made a point of demonstrating how touched they are by the sadness that surrounds the Australian nation at this time of so much pain. Photo: Baja California Surf Association.

The bodies of the Australian brothers, and that of their American friend who accompanied the two on the surfing trip, were found in a 4 meter deep well, about 6 kilometers from the site of the attack, in the city of Santo Tomás, on Friday. fair.
Abandoned camping tents, a burned-out white pickup truck and a cell phone belonging to the missing surfers were also found nearby.
A fourth body was found in the well, but it had been there longer and was not linked to the case, authorities said.

Governor Marina de Pilar was accused during the protest of the growing violence in Baja California. Photo: Baja California Surf Association

Two men and one woman were detained on suspicion of direct or indirect involvement in the attack. A man with a criminal record was accused of “enforced disappearance”. Baja California is one of the most violent states in Mexico, plagued by drug gangs fighting in constant territorial battles. In 2023, Baja had the second highest homicide rate in the country, after the state of Guanajuato, according to official data.

The tragedy that occurred near Ensenada directly affects new generations of local surfers, who feel insecure in the face of such brutality. Photo: Baja California Surf Association

Secretary of National Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval said earlier this year that 85-90% of murders committed in Baja California were linked to drug trafficking and organized crime. But the Ensenada area, about 120 kilometers south of the US-Mexico border, renowned for its excellent surfing conditions, is considered safer and receives a steady stream of tourists from California.

Local surfers held an emotional ceremony on San Miguel beach in honor of the murdered surfers. Photo: Baja California Surf Association

The Callum brothers’ parents flew from Australia to accompany the search for their missing children, but when they landed in Mexico they had already been found dead. On Sunday, Deborah and Martin Robinson did the reconnaissance and stated that: “Callum and Jake are beautiful human beings. We love them so much and it breaks our hearts.”