Daniel Arizmendi López

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".

Biography Arizmendi López was originally a police officer in Morelos. 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. In many cases, he sent the severed ears to the families of his victims. Because of this, he was nicknamed "El Mochaorejas" ("The Ear Chopper"). Arizmendi López collected over US$40 million in ransom money from kidnappings.

On August 17, 1998, Mexican authorities announced that they had captured Arizmendi López in Naucalpan, Mexico State. 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, and the character Aurelio Sánchez is based on Aurelio Arizmendi López, the brother of Daniel Arizmendi López. 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."