SAN DIEGO — One of Mexico’s most wanted drug cartel bosses was captured early Tuesday morning in the Baja California port city of La Paz, according to Mexican and U.S. law enforcement officials.
Teodoro Garcia Simental, believed to be behind a campaign of massacres, beheadings and kidnappings in Tijuana, was arrested by Mexican federal authorities without officers firing a shot and flown to Mexico City.
Garcia Simental was arrested in an upscale area in the southern part of the city, according to Mexican media reports.
Garcia Simental, known by his nickname “El Teo,” was one of two crime bosses vying for control of the city’s criminal underworld.
Better known for his savage killing skills than his narco-business acumen, Garcia Simental bedeviled Mexican authorities for years and narrowly escaped capture several times.
He was a lieutenant in the Arellano Felix drug cartel when he broke away after an April 2008 shootout with a rival gang that left 13 people dead.
Garcia Simental focused his criminal empire on extortion and kidnapping and targeted all levels of society.
During his reign, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Tijuana residents moved out of the city to avoid being kidnapped, more than 42 police officers were killed and more than 1,400 people died in drug-fueled violence.
