Thread: Mexican trafficker dissolved 300 bodies

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


http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ndex=42240

This is beyond sick. This man is a monster.

Is this the norm down there?

Looks like the Catholic priests in Mexico have a lot of work to do.
Maybe the could use a little backup from the priests here.

Originally Posted by AE

This is beyond sick. This man is a monster.

Is this the norm down there?

Actually the norm is to cut the person's head off and leave the body at a school or on the side of the road.

These are our neighbors. They are coming here illegally by the millions and our government isn't smart enough to send them all back home.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

Looks like the Catholic priests in Mexico have a lot of work to do.
Maybe the could use a little backup from the priests here.

Naaahh, there's no money in it for them. The most they'll do is say a prayer for them. They wouldn't stick their necks out to protest the inhumanity of these scum.

No death penalty in mexico, criminals and murderers rule the country.

There is a hot spot waiting for López.

Dang, that's deranged and callous.

Have you been paying attention to your local news lately? The violence is escalating here.

Dixie

Alleged acid disposal man for Mexico gang nabbed

By MARIANA MARTINEZ, The Associated Press 8:43 p.m. January 23, 2009

Santiago Meza Lopez, 45, center, aka "el pozolero del Teo", who allegedly worked for Teo, a drug lord from the Tijuana area, is escorted by Mexican soldiers and Federal police agents as he is shown to the media in Tijuana, Mexico, Friday, Jan. 23, 2009. Meza Lopez, the number 20th on the FBI most wanted list, allegedly helped a drug cartel dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving them in acid. (AP Photo/Guillermo Arias) - APTIJUANA, Mexico — A man accused of helping a Mexican drug kingpin dispose of hundreds of victims by dissolving their bodies in acid was arrested in the border city of Tijuana, authorities said Friday.

A Mexican military statement said Santiago Meza Lopez confessed to disposing of at least 300 bodies over a decade, but authorities provided no further evidence to back the claim. Officials contend he dumped the bodies in graves, poured acid on them and let them dissolve underground.

The victims are believed to be rivals of Teodoro Garcia Simental, an alleged former lieutenant of the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix drug cartel, authorities said.

Soldiers and police paraded Meza, 45, before reporters at a cement-block shack on the outskirts of Tijuana where he allegedly disposed of the bodies. Two grave-sized holes had been dug near the walls.

The security officers had Meza tell reporters how he allegedly got rid of the bodies, prodding him to speak up whenever he mumbled.

Meza, who has not yet been charged, was arrested along with three other people Thursday at a Tijuana hotel. He told reporters Friday that he got paid $600 a week for his work and repeated his claim that he had disposed of 300 bodies.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration identified Garcia as one of 10 men it believes are battling for drug trafficking routes through Tijuana. The DEA said Garcia is the chief rival of alleged Arellano Felix cartel leader Fernando Sanchez Arrellano.

Mexican officials have blamed the power struggle for a surge in violence in Tijuana, the birthplace of the Arellano Felix cartel. The two men split in April after a shootout between their followers in Tijuana left at least 14 people dead, Mexican and U.S. officials say.

The Arellano Felix cartel rose to power in 1980s. Since 2002, four brothers who led the cartel have been killed or arrested, most recently Eduardo Arellano Felix, who was captured in October in his Tijuana home.

Mexico's drug violence has surged and grown more gruesome in recent years, particularly in northern border cities Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez. Drug violence claimed more than 5,300 lives last year.

In one case last year, authorities said they found human teeth and other remains inside barrels of acid left on a Tijuana street. Officials did not say whether Meza was suspected of involvement in that case.

Also Friday, two human heads were found inside coolers near police stations in Celaya, a city in central Guanajuato state, said state deputy Attorney General Armando Amaro. Hours later, police found the bodies with their hands handcuffed.

A message was left with the heads threatening allies of a drug cartel knows as "La Familia," Amaro said. It was signed by Zetas, a group of hit men for the Gulf Cartel.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ndex=42158

These stories are getting more gruesome all the time. Hard to find words for such sick brutality.

They wouldn't stick their necks out to protest the inhumanity of these scum.

Yeah? Well I'd like to see a whole parade of hundreds of priests in helicopters, led by Cardinal Mahoney, go down to exorcise Mexico instead of getting involved in political protesting in parking lots.

Originally Posted by ShockedinCalifornia

They wouldn't stick their necks out to protest the inhumanity of these scum.

Yeah? Well I'd like to see a whole parade of hundreds of priests in helicopters, led by Cardinal Mahoney, go down to exorcise Mexico instead of getting involved in political protesting in parking lots.

Look what else the churc gave the people of Mexico:

VIDEO: Mexican "St. Death" Worshipped
Mexican devotees honor the folk saint Santa Muerte—a scythe-carrying skeleton— each month, though the Catholic Church links the saint to . . .
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/08/080828-mexdeath-video-ap.html - 26k - Cached - Similar pages