Mexican Federal Police escort Teodoro Garcia Simental, known as "El Teo" or "Tres Letras", a member of Tijuana cartels after being presented to the media in Mexico City January 12, 2010. Mexican police on Tuesday captured Garcia Simental, a drug kingpin known for having the corpses of tortured rivals dissolved in acid and blamed for much of a surge in violence in the northern border city of Tijuana, police said.
The country resembled a grim, statistical dart board on Saturday as law enforcement and media reported the deaths from various regions, including 26 in Ciudad Juarez, 13 in and around Mexico City and 10 in the city of Chihuahua.
More than 6,500 drug-related killings made 2009 the bloodiest year since President Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels in late 2006 and deployed 45,000 soldiers to fight organized crime, according to death tallies by San Diego’s Trans-Border Institute.
Two weeks into 2010, gang bloodshed is becoming more grotesque as drug lords ramp up their attempts at intimidation.
Last week a victim’s face was peeled from skull and sewn onto a soccer ball. On Monday, prosecutors in Culiacan identified the remains of a former police officer divided into two separate ice chests.
Using their so-called Narcobarometer, researchers at the University of Trans-Border Institute track and analyze murders in Mexico, hoping to find ways to quell the violence.
Their tally? Over 20,000 murders since 2001, more than half in the past two years.
As Mexico tries to develop, the killings jeopardize its international reputation, said Larry Birns, director of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs in Washington
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