Daniel Arizmendi López (born 22 July 1958), best known as El Mochaorejas, is a Mexican convicted kidnapper and serial killer. In 1998, Susan Ferriss of the Cox News Service wrote that Arizmendi was "Mexico's most notorious suspected criminal".Ferriss, Susan. "Ear-cutter Arizmendi Lopez arrested near los Angeles" (). Cox News Service at Laredo Morning Times. Wednesday August 19, 1998. p. 2.
Biography Arizmendi López was originally a police officer in Morelos. He became involved in crime in the 1980s while a police officer.Information Services Latin America (ISLA). Information Services Latin America, 1998. p. 19. "CSM JUL *3 1998 3066 MEXICO CITY Brutal reputed kidnapper Daniel Arizmendi Lopez was a handsome police officer when he began his life of crime in the mid- 1980s. As a onetime cop gone bad - very bad - he symbolizes the tares[...]" From 1996 until 1998 he was responsible for at least 18 kidnappings in Mexico and some murders. He often severed the ears of his kidnapping victims.DePalma, Anthony. "Mexico Says It Has Kidnapper Who Cut Wealthy Victims' Ears." The New York Times. August 17, 1998. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. In many cases, he sent the severed ears to the families of his victims.Chesnut, R. Andrew. Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint. Oxford University Press, January 3, 2012. , 9780199764662. p. 16. Because of this, he was nicknamed "El Mochaorejas" ("The Ear Chopper").Martín, Desirée A. Borderlands Saints: Secular Sanctity in Chicano/a and Mexican Culture (Latinidad: Transnational Cultures in the United States). Rutgers University Press, December 19, 2013. Page unstated (Google Books PT180). Arizmendi López collected over US$40 million in ransom money from kidnappings.Chesnut, R. Andrew. Devoted to Death: Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint. Oxford University Press, January 3, 2012. , 9780199764662. p. 15.
On August 17, 1998, Mexican authorities announced that they had captured Arizmendi López in Naucalpan, Mexico State. On the day of his arrest, he confessed to four murders. Inside Arizmendi López's house police found an altar to Santa Muerte. Authorities allowed Arizmendi López to bring a figure of Santa Muerte to prison, resulting in widespread media attention. Jorge Madrazo Cuéllar, the Attorney General of Mexico, stated that information originating from plea bargains of gang members in prison and legal wiretaps were used in the capture.
In 2022, a Magistrates Court ordered the removal of 14 statements from members of the Mochaorejas gang and Arizmendi López's brother due to the possibility of their having been obtained through illegal torture. This decision invalidates the 40-year prison sentence, which will be reevaluated, but Arizmendi López will not be released from prison.
Legacy The character Daniel "La Voz" Sánchez in the 2004 film Man on Fire is based on Arizmendi López,Freese, Kevin (Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS). "The Death Cult of the Drug Lords Mexico’s Patron Saint of Crime, Criminals, and the Dispossessed" (). Foreign Military Studies Office. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. and the character Aurelio Sánchez is based on Aurelio Arizmendi López, the brother of Daniel Arizmendi López."La industria de secuestro en México es tan lucrativa que no caerá, según un experto" (). Agencia EFE at La Voz (Arizona Star). October 3, 2010. Retrieved on May 15, 2014. "Su historia sirvió al director hollywoodiense Tony Scott para el filme "Man on fire", protagonizado por Denzel Washington y ambientado en el Distrito Federal. Los secuestradores se llamaron Daniel, como "el Mochaorejas", y Aurelio, como su compinche." Just like the real Arizmendi López, "La Voz" believes in Santa Muerte. Kevin Freese of the Foreign Military Studies Office stated that "it appears that the allusion" of the fictional Sánchez brothers with the real Arizmendi brothers "escaped the comprehension of much of the audience."
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