US Marines have arrested a top leader of a notorious Mexican drug cartel that kidnapped four Americans and killed two of them last year.
Jose Alberto Garcia Villano, known by the nicknames La Quina and Hurricane 19, was kidnapped in a shopping center in an upscale area on the outskirts of Monterrey.
He headed the Hurricanes – one of the most powerful and violent factions of the now divided Gulf Cartel.
The Mexican Navy Ministry said in a statement, without naming him, that the Marines arrested a suspect it described as “one of the main leaders of one of the most powerful criminal organizations in Tamaulipas,” adding that he was “one of the main targets of the anti-narcotics forces.” administration”.
Prosecutors had previously offered a reward of $150,000 (£118,000) for his arrest.
The kidnapping and killing of the Americans was linked to another faction of the gang known as the Scorpions.
The four American citizens had crossed into the border city of Matamoros from Texas last March so that one of them could undergo plastic surgery.
They were shot in downtown Matamoros and then loaded into a pickup truck.
Americans Zindel Brown and Shahid Woodard He died in the attack While Eric Williams and Latavia McGee survived.
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A Mexican woman, Arely Pablo Servando, 33, was also killed by an apparent stray bullet.
Gulf Cartel Extradition of five gang members She said they were accountable to the police shortly after the kidnapping.
A letter purporting to be from the Scorpions also condemned the violence.
“We have decided to extradite those who were directly involved and responsible for the events, and who at all times acted within the framework of their own decision-making and lack of discipline,” the statement read.
