Teodoro García Simental (a.k.a.: ''El Teo'' and ''El Tres Letras'', born 1974) is a former lieutenant of the Mexican criminal organization known as the

Tijuana Cartel The Tijuana Cartel (Spanish: ''Cártel de Tijuana'') or Arellano-Félix-Organization (Spanish: ''Organización Arellano Félix'', AFO) is a Mexican drug cartel based in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. Founded by the Arellano-Félix family, the ...

, and later allied with the

Sinaloa Cartel The Sinaloa Cartel ( es, link=no, Cártel de Sinaloa), also known as the CDS, the Guzmán-Loera Organization, the Pacific Cartel, the Federation and the Blood Alliance, is a large, international organized crime syndicate that specializes in il ...

. He was arrested by Mexican Federal Police - Special Forces on 12 January 2010 in

La Paz, Baja California Sur La Paz (, en, Peace) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur and an important regional commercial center. The city had a 2020 census population of 250,141 inhabitants, making it the most populous city in the state. Its ...

Biography

He started working for

in 1995, along with his brother, Antonio García Simental, (alias "8-9" or "El Chris"), who was a cartel enforcer, under the orders of

Ramón Arellano Félix Ramón Eduardo Arellano Félix (August 31, 1964 – February 10, 2002) was a Mexican drug lord who alongside his brothers founded and led the Tijuana Cartel (a.k.a. the Arellano-Félix Organization). He was the leader of the enforcement wing ...

. When the

leader

Eduardo Arellano Félix Eduardo Arellano Félix (born October 11, 1956) is a Mexican drug trafficker, brother of Benjamín, Ramón, Javier and sister, Enedina, all drug traffickers. The Arellano-Félix Organization, also known as the Tijuana Cartel, has been responsi ...

was arrested on October 25, 2008, a violent power struggle erupted between Teodoro García and

Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano (b. ca. 1977), commonly referred to by the alias El Ingeniero ("The Engineer"), is a Mexican suspected drug lord and former leader of the Tijuana Cartel, a drug trafficking organization based in Tijuana, Baja Cal ...

over the leadership of the Tijuana cartel. Teodoro García left the organization, formed his own gang, and forged an uneasy alliance with the rival

. When splitting from the Tijuana Cartel, his faction engaged in a war with it, which caused violent crime in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

to increase significantly. According to Tijuana's Chief of Police, García was principally responsible in the late 2000s for the increase in the number of homicides in the city. Teodoro García is best known for running an

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of 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

caustic soda Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaOH. It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions . Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic base and alkali ...

. Upon being arrested, García's lieutenant, Santiago Meza López — known as ''the Stew Maker'', claimed to have dissolved over three hundred bodies this way in 2008. The

Mexican Army The Mexican Army ( es, Ejército Mexicano) is the combined land and air branch and is the largest part of the Mexican Armed Forces; it is also known as the National Defense Army. The Army is under the authority of the Secretariat of National ...

stated that it believed Meza's claims to be true.

Arrest

The Mexican Federal Police was offering a $2 million

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

bounty for information leading to the capture of Teodoro García Simental. He was also wanted by the U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

(DEA). Teodoro García Simental was arrested on January 12, 2010, by Mexican Federal Police in a luxury home complex named Fidepaz, located in

. He was arrested together with an individual by the name of Diego Raymundo Guerrero García. One month later, on February 7, 2010, Manuel García 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.

References

External links

Photo gallery related to Teodoro ''El Teo'' García
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Simental, Teodoro 1974 births Fugitives Living people Mexican drug traffickers People from Culiacán Sinaloa Cartel traffickers Tijuana Cartel traffickers

Biography

Arrest

See also

References

External links