TIJUANA, Mexico, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- The notorious Tijuana, Mexico, drug kingpin known as "El Teo" was captured Tuesday, U.S. and Mexican authorities say.
Law enforcement officials said Teodoro Garcia Simental, known for his brutal tactics and gruesome reprisals that included massacres and beheadings, was captured early Tuesday in the Baja California port city of La Paz, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The newspaper said Mexican media reports indicted Garcia Simental was taken into custody without incident in an upscale area of the city and flown to Mexico City.
Authorities said "El Teo" was one of two crime bosses struggling for control of Tijuana's booming drug trade, and was best known for inspiring fear through extortion and kidnappings of people in all levels of society.
The Times said he was considered one of Mexico's most wanted criminals and had narrowly escaped capture several times. His time atop Tijuana's underworld reportedly prompted hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of residents to leave the city to avoid being abducted.
A one-time lieutenant in the Arellano Felix drug cartel, he established his own network after an April 2008 shootout with a rival gang that left 13 people dead, the newspaper said.
