SAN DIEGO (Border Report) -- Mexican authorities said they have dismantled 11 gangs that were extorting businesses throughout the Tijuana region.

At a news conference Thursday morning in Tijuana, police told reporters they had made a total of 37 arrests during a sting operation throughout Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito.

Tijuana's Secretary of Public Security, Laureano Carrillo Rodríguez, said the suspects were all threatening business owners with violence and vandalism if they did not pay a monthly fee, known as "cobro de piso."

"The results we've gotten were fortunately very good," he said. "Some of the arrests took place as the suspects were showing up to collect the money or in the process of demanding payment."

Carrillo Rodríguez said the operation took place over the course of sev

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