MATAMOROS, Mexico, (Reuters) – Mexico captured a suspected leader of the ruthless Gulf cartel who is wanted in the United States, the latest arrest in its army-led war against drug gangs, the government said.
Police and soldiers yesterday caught Gregorio Sauceda, a former policeman turned drug smuggler who had a $2 million reward on his head, in a house in the border city of Matamoros near Texas, along with his wife and an arsenal of weapons that included a rocket launcher, the public security ministry said. Sauceda, 44, is considered to be a founder of the Gulf cartel’s brutal armed wing, the Zetas, which is notorious for beheading rival smugglers. He was flown to the capital, Mexico City, after his arrest.
The capture scores another point for conservative President Felipe Calderon, who has put dozens of traffickers behind bars in a high-stakes war on drug cartels whose turf wars have killed some 2,000 people this year.
