Mexico captures high level drug lieutenant in Cabo

Mexico is claiming an important victory in the war against organised crime after it announced the capture of a US citizen it believes runs one of the country's leading drugs cartels.
 
Gustavo Rivera Martínez, who was arrested late on Tuesday with three alleged colleagues in the state of Baja California Sur, is suspected of being the day-to-day leader of the Arrellano Félix cartel in Tijuana. The 46-year-old is wanted by the US in connection with smuggling marijuana and cocaine, as well as for money-laundering.
 
The Mexican government said yesterday he would be sent to the US to face charges "immediately".

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico has captured a high-level drug suspect working for the powerful Tijuana cartel and will deport him to face smuggling charges in the United States, the government said on Wednesday.

Gustavo Rivera Martinez, a U.S. citizen wanted by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on drug charges, was arrested late on Tuesday in the northwestern Mexican state of Baja California Sur, Interior Minister Juan Camilo Mourino told a news conference.
 
The U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, sent a brief statement praising the arrest, the second major drug capture this year under President Felipe Calderon's crackdown on smugglers, after the detention in January of a senior operative of the rival Sinaloa cartel.
 
Tuesday's capture followed half a dozen recent raids on the Tijuana cartel, also known as the Arellano Felix organization, that have put around 30 mid-level operatives behind bars.
 
Rivera Martinez is described as a lieutenant-level manager by the DEA, which had offered up to $2 million for information leading to his arrest. He is believed to be close to Enedina Arellano Felix, the latest in a clan of siblings to be heading the cartel, based in and around the seedy border city.
 
Rivera Martinez "focused his operations in drug trafficking and money laundering," Mourino said, adding that he would be flown to the United States immediately.
 
Two of his accomplices were also arrested on Tuesday.

Estaba en Los Cabos el P1
*.- Cae una de los más importantes cabezas del Cártel de los Arellano
*.- Es de los más cercanos al “ingeniero” y era buscado por el gobierno de Estados Unidos
*.- Anuncian su captura en la ciudad de México.
TIJUANA BC 12 de marzo (AFN).- Gustavo Rivera Martínez el “EP1”, considerado uno de los cabecillas más importantes del Cártel de los hermanos Arellano Félix, además de ser de los más buscados por las autoridades estadounidenses, estaba en Los Cabos, en Baja California Sur, cuando fue sorprendido por las autoridades mexicanas.
En conferencia de prensa conjunta, celebrada en la ciudad de México, la Secretaría de Gobernación, la Secretaría de Seguridad Pública y la Procuraduría General de la República, informaron sobre la captura de este hombre, que según informes confidenciales, seguía teniendo fuerte influencia en la “plaza”, además de ser de los más cercanos al “ingeniero”, el sobrino de los Arellano Félix, que según se dice, es ahora el “jefe” del cártel.