TIJUANA – The drug cartels that once ruled parts of the border region have disintegrated to the point where they are no longer able to operate effectively, declared one of the officials most responsible for fighting them in the last few years.

Julián Leyzaola, deputy director of the state's Department of Public Safety, said that the combined law enforcement efforts of federal, state and municipal governments have greatly reduced the cartels' ability to bribe public officials to be able to operate freely.

Leyzaola, a retired lieutenant in the Mexican army, directed Tijuana's municipal police department in 2008 then led its parent agency, the Department of Public Safety, in 2009 and 2010. This year he began a new post, helping craft the state's strategy to combat organized crime.

In that period, he led an unprecedented campaign against corruption within police ranks. More than 600 officers suspected of working with traffickers resigned or were fired, including 84 who were arrested. A total of 43 officers were murdered under his watch, as well.

"Criminal groups continue to be fragmented. There isn't a real organization, one group that controls the area because police activity in Tijuana is no longer allowing it," he said Wednesday after attending an event to promote a new state center to receive anonymous tips.

Even so, Leyzaola admitted that criminal cells associated with the Michoacán-based cartel known La Familia are trying to gain control of the local market.

La Familia, he said, is fighting the other groups for the right to move drugs, mainly methamphetamine. These groups inherited criminal cells from Teodoro "El Teo" García Simental, who was arrested in January of 2010, and Fernando "El Ingeniero" Sánchez Arellano, the leader of the Arellano Félix cartel, who remains at large.

La Familia has been moving drugs through the border for two years, paying a "fee" to the cartel that controlled the area to be able to do so. As Familia members grew the business, however, they demanded more territory, and now are pushing to own the entire local market, he said.

"I believe that it's now a fight among La Familia and the other criminal groups," Leyzaola said.

"They're doing it in a very low profile. They are not controlling a specific area, they can't. It's very difficult to control the Tijuana area; police officers are so well deployed that traffickers don't have the opportunity to organize and can't be sure of being able to move around easily and to sell (drugs)," said Leyzaola.

In the last two months, authorities have seized large quantities of synthetic drugs in two secret meth laboratories that presumably belonged to La Familia cartel.

"Initially, La Familia transported drugs," he said. "Now, they are making them here."

In this new reality of trafficking, anonymous tips made to either police agencies or the Mexican army have played an important role, Leyzaola added. Many arrests and drug seizures began with an anonymous tip.

Despite the lack of organization among the criminal groups, the deadly violence continues. In fact, experts say that disorganization breeds more violence because agreements among the criminal groups are ignored and cells fight one another for control. A total of 820 people were killed last year in Tijuana alone, 23 less than in 2008, the most violent year in the city's history.

Omar.millan@sandiegored.com