TIJUANA, Mexico, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Five Tijuana police officers were arrested Tuesday, a day after Mexican federal police detained two reputed drug cartel leaders, authorities said.
One of the arrested officers was a commander, and the others were neighborhood chiefs and sub-chiefs, KPBS in San Diego reported. They allegedly had ties to Reydel Lopez Uriarte and Manuel Garcia Simental, allegedly the two top leaders in the drug gang headed by Teodoro Garcia Simental, Manuel's brother, who was arrested last month.
Mexican officials say Lopez Uriarte, nicknamed "El Muletas" or "Crutches," commanded a force of more than 200 men, dressed in special uniforms, armed with machine guns and operating three armored cars and three small planes to smuggle drugs. He is also said to have delivered bodies to be destroyed by dissolving them in acid.
Lopez Uriarte and Garcia Simental were picked up in La Paz, capital of Baja California Sur, with help from U.S. anti-drug agencies, officials said.
