Mexican marines captured Sergio Villarreal Barragán, an alleged leader of the embattled Beltrán Leyva cartel and one of the country's most-wanted fugitives, in a raid yesterday in the central state of Puebla, the authorities said.
The alleged capo known as El Grande did not put up any resistance when arrested along with two others as they left a residence in Puebla city, according to a security spokesman, Alejandro Poire. The raid involved 30 navy marines, five vehicles and a helicopter.
"This is a new and resounding blow by the federal government against crime, given the high rank and dangerousness of this person inside one of the country's most extensive criminal organisations which has now been deeply weakened," Poire said in a statement.
Villarreal's capture is the fourth major setback for drug cartels delivered by President Felipe Calderón's government in a year.
First came the death of Arturo Beltrán Leyva, the top leader of Beltran Leyva cartel, in a raid outside Mexico City on 16 December 2009. Soldiers killed the Sinaloa cartel's No 3, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, on 29 July. On 30 August, federal police announced the capture of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias La Barbie. The two men are not related.
Villarreal appears on the list of Mexico's most-wanted drug traffickers, with a reward of just over $2m for his capture. He faces at least seven investigations for alleged drug trafficking and organised crime, Poire said.
He is listed as one of the top remaining leaders of the Beltrán Leyva cartel following the death of Arturo, who was known as the Boss of Bosses, and the arrest of La Barbie, a former Beltrán Leyva hitman and operative.
Poire said the Beltrán Leyvas "had constituted one of the groups with the largest presence in the country", conducting operations in 32 Mexican states, including the capital.
But trouble began when Alfredo Beltran Leyva was arrested in 2008. Then the death of his brother Arturo the following year splintered the cartel, launching a brutal war for control.
The Beltrán Leyva brothers once formed part of the Sinaloa cartel, but broke away after a dispute. An indication of the problems they face is that three of the four main blows dealt to drug gangs in the past year involve the Beltrán Leyva.
More than 28,000 people have died in Mexico since December 2006, when Calderón launched a military offensive against the cartels after taking office.
In the central state of Morelos, police found nine bodies in secret graves on Saturday in the same area where four more were recently found.