Teodoro García Simental
Encyclopedia
Teodoro García Simental (a.k.a.: El Teo and El Tres Letras) is a former lieutenant of the Mexican
criminal organization known as the Tijuana Cartel
.
leader Eduardo Arellano Félix
was arrested on October 25, 2008, a violent power struggle erupted between Teodoro García and Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano
over the leadership of the Tijuana cartel. Teodoro García left the organization, formed his own gang, and forged an uneasy alliance with the rival Sinaloa Cartel
. Since splitting from the Tijuana Cartel, his faction has been engaged in a war with it, which has caused crime in Tijuana
to increase significantly. According to Tijuana's Chief of Police, García is principally responsible for the recent increase in the number of homicides in the city.
Teodoro García is best known for running an extortion
and kidnapping
network, and is also known for dissolving the bodies of those who are in business with rival drug gangs by drowning them in sodium hydroxide. Upon being arrested, García's lieutenant —Santiago Meza López— claimed to have dissolved over three hundred bodies in this fashion in 2008. The Mexican Army
stated that it believed Meza's claims to be true.
Teodoro García Simental was arrested on January 12, 2010 by Mexican Federal Police - Special Forces in La Paz, Baja California Sur
, in a luxury home complex named Fidepaz. He was arrested together with an individual by the name of Diego Raymundo Guerrero García.
One month after his arrest, on February 7, 2010 Manuel Garcia Simental, Teodoro’s younger brother and lieutenant, was arrested in the Baja California port city of La Paz. Authorities feared Manuel was planning to reignite a gang war for control of Tijuana’s drug trafficking routes.
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
criminal organization known as the Tijuana Cartel
Tijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
.
Biography
When the Tijuana CartelTijuana Cartel
The Tijuana Cartel is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana. The cartel has been described as "one of the biggest and most violent criminal groups in Mexico"...
leader Eduardo Arellano Félix
Eduardo Arellano Félix
Eduardo Arellano Félix is a Mexican drug trafficker, brother of Benjamín, Ramón, Javier and sister Enedina, all drug traffickers. The Arellano-Félix Organisation, also known as the Tijuana Cartel, has been responsible for countless murders and the smuggling of thousands of tons of marijuana,...
was arrested on October 25, 2008, a violent power struggle erupted between Teodoro García and Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano
Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano
Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano , a.k.a.: El Ingeniero, is a Mexican drug trafficker leader of the Tijuana Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California...
over the leadership of the Tijuana cartel. Teodoro García left the organization, formed his own gang, and forged an uneasy alliance with the rival Sinaloa Cartel
Sinaloa Cartel
The Sinaloa Cartel is the most powerful drug cartel in Mexico and considered by the United States Intelligence Community as "the most powerful drug trafficking organization in the world." The Sinaloa Cartel is based in the city of Culiacán, Sinaloa, but also operates in the Mexican states of Baja...
. Since splitting from the Tijuana Cartel, his faction has been engaged in a war with it, which has caused crime in Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
to increase significantly. According to Tijuana's Chief of Police, García is principally responsible for the recent increase in the number of homicides in the city.
Teodoro García is best known for running an extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
and kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
network, and is also known for dissolving the bodies of those who are in business with rival drug gangs by drowning them in sodium hydroxide. Upon being arrested, García's lieutenant —Santiago Meza López— claimed to have dissolved over three hundred bodies in this fashion in 2008. The Mexican Army
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...
stated that it believed Meza's claims to be true.
Arrest
The Mexican Federal Police was offering a $2 million USD bounty for information leading to the capture of Teodoro García Simental. García Simental was also wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).Teodoro García Simental was arrested on January 12, 2010 by Mexican Federal Police - Special Forces in La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz, Baja California Sur
La Paz is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2010 census population of 215,178 persons, but its metropolitan population is somewhat larger because of surrounding towns like el Centenario, el Zacatal and San Pedro...
, in a luxury home complex named Fidepaz. He was arrested together with an individual by the name of Diego Raymundo Guerrero García.
One month after his arrest, on February 7, 2010 Manuel Garcia Simental, Teodoro’s younger brother and lieutenant, was arrested in the Baja California port city of La Paz. Authorities feared Manuel was planning to reignite a gang war for control of Tijuana’s drug trafficking routes.
See also
- Drug war
- Mexican Drug WarMexican Drug WarThe Mexican Drug War is an ongoing armed conflict taking place among rival drug cartels who fight each other for regional control, and Mexican government forces who seek to combat drug trafficking. However, the government's principal goal has been to put down the drug-related violence that was...
- Merida InitiativeMérida InitiativeThe Mérida Initiative is a security cooperation agreement between the United States and the government of Mexico and the countries of Central America, with the declared aim of combating the threats of drug trafficking, transnational organized crime and money laundering...
- List of Mexico's 37 most-wanted drug lords