Mexican soldiers rescue kidnap victim

ROSARITO BEACH, Mexico, June 17 (UPI) -- Mexican soldiers rescued a kidnapped 66-year-old man and arrested four people suspected in a string of Baja California slayings, officials said.

A military news release said the suspects worked for a drug gang led by Teodoro Garcia Simental, often known as El Teo, and their arrests constitute a blow against Garcia's Tijuana, Mexico, group, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Wednesday.

Officials said the gang has a reputation for violence and is suspected of carrying out many kidnappings for ransom. The arrested men were said to be responsible for kidnappings and at least three slayings in the Rosarito Beach, Mexico, area.

The elderly kidnap victim told the Union-Tribune he was working in a Rosarito Beach restaurant on May 24 when kidnappers beat him, tied him up, cut off a finger on his left hand and issued death threats to his family.