"El Teo" Teodoro García Simental, Transferred to Toluca Hospital

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"El Teo," housed at Altiplano prison was transferred to a hospital in Toluca. Ovidio Guzman Lopez was not, a Central American man who is also named Ovido was the inmate transferred to the hospital as well.

Earlier, it was reported that two inmates from the Altiplano, one of them named Ovidio, were admitted to the Adolfo López Mateos Hospital, where a large security group from the National Defense Secretariat (Sedena) is maintained. State sources quoted that around 1:00PM the inmates were admitted to the hospital located north of Mexican City, both due to health problems.

The other inmate was identified as Teodoro García, alias "El Teo", a former ranking member of the Tijuana and Sinaloa Cartels.

It had first been reported that the two transferred inmates had staged a fight with Ovidio receiving minor injuries and "El Teo" receiving serious ones. The authorities ruled out that it was a fight between the two inmates that resulted in the injuries. "El Teo" is said to have serious health conditions.

Initially, it had been reported that the inmate named Ovidio was in fact Ovidio "El Raton" Guzman-Lopez, however, the inmate is of Central American origin.

Incarcerated since 2010 in the Center for Prevention and Social Readaptation (Cefereso) Number 1, known as Altiplano, the drug trafficker had filed a complaint with a federal court in January 2022 for failing to receive medical care inside the high-risk prison.

According to the Semanario Zeta, which quotes El Teo's lawyers, Teodoro García Simental already had several health problems such as high blood pressure and hemorrhoids, and underwent surgery in October 2017 for a thrombosis, although he presents greater neurological deterioration, even which caused him problems speaking, eating and moving the left half of his body.

According to what was reported, Eduardo Teodoro suffered in 2010 from fungal skin problems, anemia, and cardiovascular disease. A year later, he presented oral discomfort. García Simental's health deteriorated over time because according to the Zeta Weekly, El Teo has also been treated for a chronic peptic acid disease while reporting discomfort in the urinary tract.

Who is "El Teo"?

The former criminal leader's career began in the 1990s, when Ramón Eduardo Arellano Félix, alias Mon, one of the founders of the Tijuana Cartel, recruited him. Later, El Teo became a bodyguard for Francisco Javier Arellano Félix, known as El Tigrillo.

The ladder of positions within the Arellano Félix organization led him to become the chief of operations for the Tijuana Cartel in 2004. However, when Eduardo Arellano Félix was arrested by federal forces in 2008, El Teo began a dispute to lead to the drug trafficking group.

The main disputes occurred with Luis Fernando Sánchez Arellano, alias El Ingeniero, son of Enedina Arellano Félix. Despite beginning his criminal career with the Tijuana Cartel, the drug trafficker left the organization to join the Sinaloa Cartel, which was then headed by Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán and Ismael El Mayo Zambada.

Once in the Pacific Cartel, García Simental had Santiago Meza López, alias El Pozolero or El Chango, as a subordinate, accused of dissolving the bodies of his rivals with caustic soda and water, for which he is credited with the murder of 300 people from 2000 to 2009. El Pozolero was at number 20 on the FBI's most wanted list.

According to the Mexican authorities, El Teo operated in several municipalities in Baja California, mainly in Tecate, Ensenada, Rosarito, and Tijuana, places where he used the kidnapping of merchants and businessmen to finance his criminal group. The executions of public servants and municipal, state, and federal agents are also attributed to him.

El Teo was arrested by federal forces on January 12, 2010, at a private home in the luxurious La Selva Fidepaz subdivision in La Paz, Baja California Sur. Elements of the Federal Police, the Secretary of the Navy, and the National Defense participated in his capture.

Sources Riodoce, Proceso, Zeta Tijuana