Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino captured by army near Texas border – the latest high-profile scalp in war on drug gangs
Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, a top leader of Mexico's Gulf cartel, has been captured near the Texas border. It is the second arrest of a major drug boss since President Enrique Peña Nieto took office in December.
Mexico's government said the army netted Ramirez, a drug boss in Reynosa who had been vying to take over the cartel since the arrest of the Gulf's top capo, Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, alias El Coss, in September 2012. Opinion is split on whether Ramirez succeeded or the cartel has continued to be split into factions.
The US state department has been offering a reward of $5m for his capture. Ramirez, who was born in 1962 according to the US government, is wanted on several federal drug charges.
Tamaulipas state government spokesman Rafael Luque said there was a major operation of the Mexican military about 1pm local time on Saturday with helicopters in the town of Rio Bravo. He could not confirm if there were deaths or injuries in the offensive.
The once-powerful Gulf cartel still controls most of the cocaine and marijuana trafficking through the Matamoros corridor across the border from Brownsville, Texas, and has an international reach into central America and beyond. But it has been plagued by infighting since Costilla's arrest, while also being under attack in its home territory by its former security arm, the Zetas.
On 15 July, in the first major arrest of a Capo during Peña Nieto's administration, authorities in northern Mexico captured Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, alias Z-40, leader of the brutal Zetas cartel. In October 2012 Mexican marines killed the Zeta leader and founder Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, alias El Lazca.
Authorities are still waiting for the fallout from Trevino's capture as lieutenants battle to take over the Zetas.
