TIJUANA For months, authorities have said that much of the violence in the city is now being committed by independent criminal cells for hire not drug cartels, whose influence has waned.
On Friday evening, state authorities announced that they had dismantled one of those cells, which they said was responsible for numerous kidnappings and killings, two of them committed last week.
They said that the cell had once worked for Teodoro "El Teo" García Simental, a lieutenant for the Sinaloa cartel. After García was arrested last year, the cell had been hired by someone authorities only known by his alias, "El Paul" or "El Cien."
The Baja California Attorney General's Office announced that seven men had been arrested for their alleged participation in two homicides, four kidnappings, a premeditated murder and a violent vehicle robbery.
The department identified them as Pablo Andrés Ornelas Gregorio, 22; Abner Irak Meza Delgado (noage given); Rosalío Díaz Tirado, 37; José de Jesús Benítez Navarro, 27; Angel Moisés Salas Tirado, 25; Eduardo Guadalupe Zazueta Cárdenas, 19; and Juan Carlos Alvarez Almaraz, 28.
According to the state prosecutor for organized crime, Abel Galván, the men confessed to participating in these crimes:
The killing of Arnulfo Abarca Rendón and Pedro Humberto Vela Maldonado on Aug. 18 in the southern barrio of Cumbres de Flores Magón, where Eduardo Castillo González was wounded.
The killing of Justino Gerardo Cabrera de la Vara, committed Sept. 3 in a house in the downtown neighborhood of Hidalgo.
The premeditated murder of Benjamín Reyes Delgado carried out Sept. 13 in a house in the eastside neighborhood of Tomás Aquino.
The violent robbery and kidnapping committed on Sept. 16 near Cetys Universidad, in the eastside neighborhood of El Lago.
The prosecutor explained that a further investigation showed that one of those arrested, Rosalío Díaz Tirado, participated in four kidnappings, two committed in 2009, one in 2010 and the other at the beginning of this year. He did not give details about the victims, other than to indicate that they were released after a ransom was paid.
Díaz Tirado allegedly committed violent robberies and kidnappings as well as homicides on orders of the criminal group led by "El Paul" or "El Cien, who worked for García, the prosecutor said.
According to the state Attorney General's Office, the criminal cell was identified on Sept. 19, when municipal police officers stopped a red Jeep Cherokee that was speeding in the eastside neighborhood of Infonavit Latinos.
One of the occupants was Pablo Andrés Ornelas Gregorio, who was allegedly carrying a .45 pistol with seven live rounds and an expanding bullet in the chamber.
Another was José de Jesús Benítez Navarro, who was allegedly carrying
a cellular phone with various text messages that had information about his participation in a group of drug enforcers, the agency said.
In the vehicle, police also detained Abner Irak Meza Delgado, who confessed that the men were heading to a house on Simón Bolívar Boulevard and Díaz Ordaz, on the city's eastside, where two men were waiting for them, the prosecutor said.
State agents went to the home and detained Juan Carlos Alvarez Almaraz, who was carrying a .45 gun with six live rounds and one in the chamber, and Eduardo Guadalupe Zazueta Cárdenas, who had a cell phone that had text messages indicating that he and the other men had "a job to do," the prosecutor said.
He said the people mentioned in the text messages were detained a few blocks from Simón Bolívar Boulevard.
He identified them as Angel Moisés Salas Tirado and Rosalío Díaz Tirado, who told authorities that they collected money from drug dealers in exchange for letting them work in certain areas and carried out killings "to settle disputes."
They allegedly planned to kill Emmanuel Castro Muñiz because he had left their cell to work on his own, competing with them, the prosecutor said.
Authorities have identified another six criminals who belonged to this criminal group and were already in custody. They are Jorge Manuel Alarcón, José Mario Lago, José Fernando Valencia, Jesús Rey Vega, Angel Alberto Parra and Elsa Guadalupe Luna.
Omar.millan@sandiegored.com
