ROBERT SIEGEL, host:
From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.
MELISSA BLOCK, host:
And I'm Melissa Block.
Mexican forces today arrested one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as El Teo. He's alleged to be behind much of the drug violence in Tijuana and is known for his brutality, in particular, beheadings and dissolving victims in acid. His arrest marks the third triumph this month for Mexico's government in its war on drug cartels.
And NPR's Jason Beaubien joins us from Mexico City to tell us more about it. Jason, what is the Mexican government saying about today's arrest?
JASON BEAUBIEN: Well, Mexican officials are counting this as a major blow against the Mexican cartels. El Teo was wanted both by the Mexican and the U.S. authorities. He was a major player in the drug trade that went from Tijuana into San Diego. The head of intelligence for the Mexican federal police today said that his arrest was a result of five months of intelligence work. And this morning, when the authorities finally made their move, you had dozens of soldiers and police storming a very exclusive neighborhood in La Paz in Baja California. They even came in with helicopters. They overpowered El Teo in the very early hours of the morning around 5 a.m. local time.
BLOCK: And give us some more background about this kingpin, Teodoro Garcia Simental.
BEAUBIEN: Garcia Simental was known for being brutal. And he's viewed as one of the main forces behind this incredible rise in violence and killings that you had in Tijuana over the last couple of years. Federal officials here today accused him of being responsible for more than 300 murders, including beheadings and torture. He oversaw El Pozolero, you may have remembered this guy, he was known as the soup maker in Tijuana, and he confessed to dissolving hundreds of cartel rivals in vats of acid. El Teo used to be the top (unintelligible), basically the top hit man for the Ariano Felix brothers, which is basically the Tijuana cartel.
But then he split from them in 2008, and he's been running his own criminal organization, which prosecutors today said he's allied with both the Sinaloans(ph), one of the other big cartels, and La Familia, one of the other up and coming cartels here in Mexico.
BLOCK: And he's been listed among Mexico's 24 most wanted drug lords. Where would you say he fits in the drug cartel hierarchy?
BEAUBIEN: So, he's not one of the leaders of the top six cartels. But he is a very big name. He was well-known both in the drug world and also outside of it. And the years that he spent as a lieutenant in the Tijuana cartel, he was incredibly feared. He was probably one of the most violent or, at least, has a reputation of having been one of the most violent, most ruthless and among the most deadly criminals in a bunch of very violent criminals.
BLOCK: Now, as we mentioned, the arrest today marks the third major victory for the government of President Felipe Calderon in the last month. What do you think? Does this indicate that Mexico is finally getting some traction in the war on the drug cartels?
BEAUBIEN: Well, certainly these are big victories for President Felipe Calderon in what's been an incredibly brutal, difficult war against the drug cartels. Yet, the head of the Beltran Leyva cartel, which is one of the big cartels, Arturo Beltran Leyva, he was killed in a shootout just before Christmas. And then just after New Year's, his brother was also arrested.
So, basically, you've got the Beltran Leyva cartel in shambles at the moment. Now you've got El Teo being brought down. The problem is that you end up having - and even authorities here will say that when you get these big heads of the cartels falling, other people start fighting to gain control of those smuggling routes and often leads to more violence.
BLOCK: Jason, thank you very much.
BEAUBIEN: You're welcome.
BLOCK: That's NPR's Jason Beaubien in Mexico City talking about the arrest today of one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords, Teodoro Garcia Simental from Tijuana.