Last week, Tijuana's Public Security Secretary, Marco Antonio Sotomayor , confirmed the U.S. government had reported the continuous theft of the concertina wire the U.S. troops installed along the border wall, to prevent migrants from crossing the border , which has increased with the arrival of a caravan of Central Americans in November 2018.
One of the beneficiaries, who wants to be named “Carlos”, says one of his family members saw the wire and thought it was an option to look after their own homes since robbery and thefts are an everyday event and this material can provide more security .
“It's not that we're bad (people), it's the need,” says Carlos, who doesn't want to detail how did they obtain the concertina wire to install it outside his home.
Carlos explains that people don't like to talk about wire theft , and neither does he: “What can I say? it's them or us, people are going to keep on jumping over the wall and us, if we don't look after ourselves, we're going to keep on being robbed .”
According to the Huffington Post , thieves have been stealing the concertina wire and selling it to homeowners .
Additionally, Mexican officials told San Diego’s KUSI-TV that 15 to 20 people have been arrested for stealing concertina wire from the U.S.-Mexico border and selling it to homeowners in Tijuana .
Officials said those arrested are Mexican citizens but one woman told a local newspaper that the man who sold her the wire “had blue eyes, blonde hair, and didn’t speak Spanish well.”
She explained that she paid MXN $40 to have the concertina wire installed outside her home.
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