Drug trafficker linked to bodies

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Tri Valley Central – by Katie Campbell

FLORENCE — A known drug trafficker has been named as the prime suspect in the “brutal” murders of two men whose dismembered remains were found in the Casa Grande area, including body parts discovered in a septic tank two years ago.

During a press conference Monday morning, Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said 43-year-old Fausto Negrete-Olivas is believed to have lured Baltazar Lopez, also believed to have been involved in illicit cartel activity, to Casa Grande with the promise of about $10,000. Instead of turning over the money, however, the suspect is believed to have murdered Lopez, and another man identified as Azaren Cordova, and dismembered their bodies with a sharp object such as an axe or machete before disposing of them.  

Babeu said others may have been involved with the plot and its execution. Negrete-Olivas’ brother, Dionicio Negrete-Olivas, is also a person of interest who may have information, but Babeu declined to comment further on his potential involvement.

The suspect was interviewed by detectives in 2010 while in custody for drug-related charges. Negrete-Olivas admitted to meeting Lopez in Casa Grande and said he believed the two men had been kidnapped, though he denied any involvement in the harm that came to them. He was released three years later and deported to Mexico, where he is believed to have resided since.

His current location is unknown, but he is believed to have been seen in Nogales, Arizona, within the last 12 months.

This “vicious, brutal case” began when Lopez’s burned-out truck was discovered in May 2008 near Maricopa. The truck was found five days after the men had been reported missing in Phoenix.

The bodies were found years apart. The first was discovered in January 2009 in a shallow desert grave near Casa Grande when hikers found a human skull, which could not be identified at the time. John Doe — who Babeu declined to identify as one of the victims at this time — was dismembered prior to his burial.

The second body was not found until September 2014 when a septic tank maintenance crew discovered human remains. While cleaning out a faulty tank at a home near Casa Grande, the crew’s hose was clogged by a human skull, leading to the discovery of a mostly complete skeleton in the tank and the maintenance truck.

Babeu described the process of draining the truck, allowing its contents to dry and sifting through the contents to find the human remains as well as a few extra digits that did not appear to belong to the main body.

At that time, the perceptive Pima County medical examiner recognized both bodies had been severed in the same manner and the extra digits may have fit with the body discovered in 2009. A gold tooth was also recovered from the septic tank, matching a gold tooth possessed by one of the victims.

“This is Pinal County. This happened in the very city that I live in, in Casa Grande,” Babeu said. “I have a problem with the fact that people think that they cannot only commit any crime but actually commit murder … in my county.”

Though Lopez is believed to have been involved with drug trafficking like Negrete-Olivas, Cordova did not have a known criminal history nor does he appear to have been involved with the cartels.

Babeu said criminals may be expected to face such a fate when they are involved with violent cartels — such as the organization from Sinaloa, Mexico, the suspect was associated with — but Cordova was simply in “the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.”

“Yes, some of these types of incidents may be commonplace with cartels, but it brings it home for us,” he said. “This is real. This happened right here. And these people are going to be held to account.”

Anyone with information regarding Fausto Negrete-Olivas or his brother should call PCSO at 520-866-5111.

http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/drug-trafficker-linked-to-bodies/