US Helped Mexico Nab High-Profile Suspect in 100s of Grisly Drug Slayings
Cutting-edge electronic surveillance is being credited for the arrest of a second major drug figure in Mexico in less than a month, marking a potential new direction in a bloody drug war in which some 17,000 have been killed over the past three years, many of them police and innocent bystanders.
Captured today by Mexican federal police in an upscale neighborhood of beach homes in Baja California and flown to Mexico City, Teodoro Garcia Simental is accused in a years-long campaign of kidnappings and hundreds of grisly slayings, reports the Los Angeles Times.
His arrest follows the Dec. 16 slaying by authorities of Arturo Beltran Leyva, in a raid of a luxury apartment building near Mexico City, recounts Reuters.
Enhanced surveillance techniques implemented with the help of United States law enforcement agencies aided Garcia’s capture, reports the Associated Press.
Believed to be in his mid-30s, Garcia is accused of a connection with the deaths of least 300 people, including dozens of assassinated law enforcement officers.
Extreme violence associated with Mexican drug gangs and Tijuana in recent years has reportedly spilled over into this country, not only making Americans reluctant to vacation in Mexico but resulting in increased kidnappings for ransom and drug-related violence in the United States.
Related earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Border Town Becomes Murder Capital, While Mexico Pushes for Rule-of-Law Changes”
ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer for Suspected Drug Kingpins Is Murdered; 2nd Such Killing in 1 Month”
ABAJournal.com: “AG Says 303 Arrested in 19-State Raid of Most Violent Mexican Drug Cartel”
