Thread: Member of Tijuana drug gang is arrested

Member of Tijuana drug gang is arrested

By Sandra Dibble, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 1:32 p.m.

A much-sought member of a violent drug gang operating in Tijuana has been captured by Mexican federal police forces in Baja California Sur, U.S. officials said. Raydel Lopez Uriarte, known as El Muletas or Crutches, was reportedly arrested Monday morning in the capital of La Paz.

Lopez’s detention, confirmed Monday by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, comes less than a month after the detention of his former associate, Teodoro Garcia Simental, or El Teo, in La Paz. Until his capture, Garcia had headed the drug-trafficking group, which is known for targeting police officers, conducting numerous kidnappings in the area and beheading victims.

Amy Roderick, a spokeswoman for the DEA in San Diego, said Lopez had been detained alongside with Garcia’s youngest brother, Manuel Lopez Uriarte, known as El Chiquilin, or The Little Guy. Roderick could not confirm details, but a U.S. source with knowledge of the detentions said that they had taken place in La Paz. The two were believed to be the successors of Garcia Simental.

Lopez Uriarte was among 10 drug suspects named on a DEA poster released last year believed to be members of the new hierarchy of traffickers operating in the Baja California region. A ballad by the group Los Tucanes tells the story of how he evaded capture by 200 agents who had surrounded a seafood restaurant.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... -arrested/

Mexico arrests 2 reputed leaders of Tijuana cartel

Posted 6m ago

TIJUANA, Mexico (AP) — U.S. officials say Mexican authorities have arrested two reputed leaders of a drug cartel that has terrorized the border city of Tijuana.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Amy Roderick says Raydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental were arrested in La Paz.

That town at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula is where the cartel's alleged leader, Teodoro Garcia Simental, was captured last month.

The two men reported arrested Monday were the cartel leader's top lieutenants and their arrests would be a severe blow to the gang, leaving it apparently leaderless.

No further details are immediately available on the arrests.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2010 ... xico_N.htm