A local boss of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel was arrested in this Mexican border city, municipal police sources told Efe on Wednesday. Jesus Israel Cruz Lopez, alias “El Tomate,” is a former Tijuana cop linked to Teodoro “El Teo” Garcia Simental, a reputed Tijuana-based kingpin arrested a year ago, the sources said.
Cruz was arrested Tuesday night in a joint operation by municipal police and the Mexican military. The arrest represents another blow against the Sinaloa cartel headed by fugitive Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman, who escaped from a maximum security prison 10 years ago this month. Nearly a dozen Sinaloa mob bosses and enforcers have been arrested in the Tijuana area over the last two years. Gunmen acting at the service of the Sinaloa mob are allegedly battling for control of that city and its surrounding area – near San Diego, California – with the Tijuana cartel, founded by the Arellano Felix brothers and now led by kinsman Luis Fernando Sanchez Arellano. The Tijuana cartel has been weakened in recent years following the death or capture of several of its leaders, including Eduardo Arellano Felix, arrested in October 2008; Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, captured in May 2006; and Benjamin Arellano Felix, detained in March 2002. Founded by the Arellano Felix brothers in the 1980s, the Tijuana mob was among the most active in Mexico for decades and was linked to killings such as the 1993 slaying of Cardinal Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, who, according to some sectors in Mexico’s Catholic Church, was murdered to prevent him from disclosing what he knew about government collusion with drug lords.
No comments:
Post a Comment