Sunshine Rodríguez was executed in a direct attack in Mexicali
The homicide occurred on the afternoon of March 8 in Mexicali, Baja California, when Rodríguez Peña was surprised by four hitmen who arrived in a vehicle.
The strikers fired more than 40 times, ensuring that the victim had no chance to survive. The attack took place in broad daylight, in front of witnesses, and was documented in videos that quickly went viral on social media.
Who was Sunshine Rodríguez and why was he killed?
Rodríguez Peña was a controversial figure in the fishing community, as he had been accused of leading the so-called "Cartel of the Sea", an organization accused of the illegal fishing of the totoaba species.
In 2020, he was arrested by the Navy and the National Guard on charges of illegal trafficking of protected species and organized crime. However, he was acquitted in 2022 due to lack of evidence, which raised suspicions about the influence he had at various levels of power.
Additionally, Rodríguez Peña had been a strong critic of environmental organizations, whom he accused of affecting the local fishermen's economy with surveillance operations in the Gulf of California.
Organized crime and the dispute over totoaba trafficking
The murder of Rodríguez Peña occurs in a context of growing violence in Baja California, where the totoaba trafficking mafias have been linked with drug cartels.
