Encouraged by his success in ejecting street vendors from Guadalajara’s city center, Mayor Enrique Alfaro has now set his sights on other “black spots” for illegal trading.
The first target – possibly this weekend, some sources say – are the garment traders on Calle Medrano on the city’s east side. Dozens of unregulated vendors of clothes and accessories clog this street, much to annoyance of many established businesses and residents.
Other targets include sellers of medicines in the Santuario neighborhood off Avenida Alcalde, near the Federal Palace. The area is a hot spot for street vendors hawking low-cost black market meds, often obtained from doctors who have received them as complimentary handouts from pharmaceutical companies. Despite nine raids by federal forces in the zone between 2010 and 2014, the trading of illicit medicines has continued unabated, with drivers and pedestrians increasingly harassed by the insistent vendors. To remove these traders, however, Alfaro acknowledges that he has to work closely with federal authorities.
The new mayor is also eager to banish the sellers of stolen or illegally obtained auto parts on Calle Cinco de Febrero near the old Guadalajara bus station. While periodic police raids in the area have resulted in a handful of arrests and the recovery of scores of stolen car parts, many of the area’s stores are still hawking illicit parts.
The zone is a magnet for vehicle owners looking to replace car parts without paying agency prices. Dozens of young men hang around outside the stores soliciting business from passing drivers. The difficulty for authorities lies in identifying the stolen parts among the legal ones sold in the stores.