Mexican military says trafficker confessed to dissolving 300 bodies

By Sandra Dibble (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer, Jose Luis Jimenez Union-Tribune Staff Writer
8:32 p.m. January 23, 2009

TIJUANA — The Mexican military Friday announced the capture in Ensenada of a suspected drug trafficker who confessed to having dissolved the bodies of 300 victims in acid.

Santiago Meza López, 45, was among three men and a girl detained by members of the First Amphibious Group Special Forces Unit and the Federal Police near the toll road between Ensenada and Rosarito Beach.

In a brief interview with reporters in Ensenada, Meza said he was a former construction worker who worked for a drug trafficker named Eduardo Teodoro GarcÃ*a Simental, who is known as El Teo. Law enforcement authorities say GarcÃ*a is a one-time member of the Arellano Félix cartel who broke off from the organization this year and is believed to be behind much of the brutality in recent months as drug gangs fight over territory.

Meza said the victims were already dead by the time he received them and that he didn't know their identities. He said it took about 24 hours to dissolve them in barrels filled with acid. A military communique described the victims as GarcÃ*a's enemies and debtors.

Also detained were Héctor Manuel Valenzuela Lobo, 45, who said he worked as a cook for GarcÃ*a, and Fernando López Alarcón, who said he was Valenzuela's assistant.

In Tijuana on Friday, a prominent businessman was shot to death in the morning while driving to a gym for his daily workout, but his death is not connected to the recent drug violence in the region, according to the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

Rafael Fimbres Hernández, 55, was part of the family that owns and operates the Calimax supermarket chain and are also partners with the Smart & Final stores in Mexico.

Fimbres was found about 7:30 a.m. in his 2006 Audi with a bullet wound in the chest. He was in the Hipodromo neighborhood, where many prominent locals live, Attorney General Rommel Moreno Manjarrez said at a news conference.

He was taken to the state-run Hospital General, where he was declared dead about one hour later.

The attorney general, who said he will personally lead the investigation, said Fimbres was not being kidnapped when he was slain. Further, the homicide was not the work of organized crime, Moreno said. Investigators are still seeking a motive.

Including this slaying, there have been 10 homicides in Tijuana in the past week, according to data provided by the attorney general's office. The total so far this year is 57.

Fimbres was the nephew of José Fimbres Moreno, whose family founded Calimax in 1939 and gave back to the community through private educational institutions. It is not clear what his role was with the company; messages left with the corporate office were not returned. The family also declined to comment.

Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716; (Contact)
Jose Luis Jimenez: (619) 293-1865


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