Military forces nab drug-cartel leader, Mexico prober says

Beltran Leyva ring terrorized nation’s central region for years, officials say

This two-image composite released by Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR) on Wednesday Oct. 1, 2014, shows alleged cartel capo Hector Beltran Leyva after his arrest by Mexican law enforcement authorities. The purported head of the Beltran Levya drug gang was captured in a seafood eatery in San Miguel de Allende, a city in the central state of Guanajuato that is a popular enclave for artists and foreigners. No shots were fired in the brief operation, which culminated an 11-month investigation, authorities said.
This two-image composite released by Mexico's Attorney General's Office (PGR) on Wednesday Oct. 1, 2014, shows alleged cartel capo Hector Beltran Leyva after his arrest by Mexican law enforcement authorities. The purported head of the Beltran Levya drug gang was captured in a seafood eatery in San Miguel de Allende, a city in the central state of Guanajuato that is a popular enclave for artists and foreigners. No shots were fired in the brief operation, which culminated an 11-month investigation, authorities said.

MEXICO CITY -- Mexican military special forces grabbed purported cartel leader Hector Beltran Leyva during a raid at a restaurant Wednesday, the latest in a string of high-profile drug arrests in the country.

No shots were fired in the brief operation in the city of San Miguel de Allende, which culminated an 11-month investigation, said federal criminal investigations chief Tomas Zeron.

The arrest comes just months after the capture of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the elusive boss of the Sinaloa cartel, which is considered the most powerful drug gang in Mexico. He was caught in February after more than a decade on the run after his escape from prison.

Mexican authorities said Beltran Leyva, 49, assumed leadership of the Beltran Leyva cartel after his brother Arturo was killed by Mexican troops in a shootout in late 2009. Two other brothers are behind bars for their involvement in the cartel.

The gang terrorized parts of central Mexico for years, including Morelos state to the south of Mexico City, although it declined somewhat after Arturo's death and the other brothers' arrests. In November, the U.S. Treasury Department said the cartel appeared to be reorganizing and regaining some power.

Zeron said Beltran Leyva had adopted a "moderate profile" after becoming head of the cartel to avoid detection. The investigation determined he had made his home in the central state of Queretaro, where he passed himself off as a businessman selling art and real estate.

He was tracked to San Miguel de Allende and taken into custody along with a man suspected of being involved in the cartel's finances.

Two federal officials said earlier that Beltran Leyva was believed to have been caught, but DNA tests were being done to confirm it. Zeron said those results were still forthcoming but said it was clear the man was Beltran Leyva. He did not take questions.

"This action proves the effectiveness of the public policy of security and law enforcement to achieve the Mexico at peace that we desire," President Enrique Pena Nieto's verified Twitter account said late Wednesday.

Zeron said the investigation was carried out jointly by various security agencies, but the arrest was made by the army.

According to the U.S. State Department, Beltran Leyva, alias "The H" and "The Engineer," was born Feb. 16, 1965, in the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa, a cradle of drug trafficking.

He has been indicted in courts in the District of Columbia and New York. U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture, and Mexico offered its own bounty of about $3.7 million.

U.S. and Mexican authorities have said the Beltran Leyva gang is responsible for trafficking drugs -- including cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine -- to the United States and Europe. It was originally part of Guzman's Sinaloa cartel but broke with that group in 2008.

Information for this article was contributed by Adriana Gomez-Licon and Peter Orsi of The Associated Press.

A Section on 10/02/2014

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