Another scalp in Mexican drug war

Mexican marines captured Sergio Villarreal Barragan, a presumed leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel who appears on a list of the country's most-wanted fugitives, in a raid yesterday in the central state of Puebla, the Government said.

The alleged capo known as El Grande did not resist when he was arrested along with two accomplices, a Navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. President Felipe Calderon's office issued a statement confirming the arrest took place in Puebla, capital of the state of the same name.

Villarreal is on a 2009 Attorney General's Office list of Mexico's most-wanted drug traffickers, with a reward of just over US$2 million offered for his capture.

He is listed as one of the remaining leaders of the Beltran Leyva cartel, whose top capo, Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a raid by marines outside Mexico City.

Villarreal's capture comes about two weeks after the arrest of Valdez Villarreal, another alleged capo linked to the Beltran Leyvas.

The once-powerful Beltran Leyva cartel split after the death of Arturo - known as the Boss of Bosses - which launched a brutal war for control of the gang, involving mass executions and beheadings in once-peaceful parts of central Mexico.

More than 28,000 people have been killed since December 2006, when Calderon launched a military offensive against the cartels.

Fighting back

Sergio Villarreal's capture is the fourth major blow delivered to drug cartels by Mexico's Government in the past year.

* Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed on December 16, 2009.

* Soldiers killed the Sinaloa cartel's No 3 capo, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, on July 29.

* On August 30, federal police announced the capture of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias La Barbie.

- AP