Mexico's public security ministry has announced the capture of 44-year-old Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, a former policeman who is a founder of the Gulf cartel's brutal armed wing, the Zetas, which is notorious for beheading rival smugglers. Sauceda was one of Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug traffickers.
Police and soldiers captured Sauceda in a house in the border city of Matamoros near Texas, along witha woman believed to be his wife. An arsenal of weapons was confiscated at the house, including five rifles, more than 4,500 rounds of ammunition and a rocket launcher.
Sauceda, who is wanted in the United States, had a $2.1 million reward on his head. Following his arrest he was flown to a prison in Mexico City.
The capture is considered another score President Felipe Calderon, who has put dozens of traffickers behind bars in a high-stakes war on drug cartels since his election in 2006.
In the past few weeks soldiers have also captured Vicente Carrillo Leyva, the 32-year-old son of drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, and Vicente Zambada, the son of Sinaloa cartel boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.
In a recent incident related to "El Mayo", Joel Meza Cázares, one of the victims in last Sunday's shooting in Puerto Penasco, is said to have been related to Blanca Margarita Cázares Salazar, El Mayo Zambada’s ex-girlfriend and a money-launderer for the drug cartel.
