Most-Wanted Mexico Drugs Suspect Cornered
9:02am Monday September 13, 2010
A raid involving 30 soldiers, five armoured vehicles and a helicopter has led to the capture of a suspected member of a drugs cartel in Mexico.
In this photo released by Mexico's Navy, Navy marines arrest alleged drug kingpin Sergio Villarreal Barragan, alias " El Grande," center, in Puebla, Mexico, Sunday Sept. 12. Mexican marines captured Villarreal, a presumed leader of the embattled Beltran Leyva cartel who appears on a list of the country's most-wanted fugitives, in a raid Sunday, the government said.
AP Photo/Mexican Navy
The Mexican government has said that Sergio Villareal Barragan, nicknamed "El Grande", did not resist arrest when cornered in the city of Puebla. A presumed leader of the Beltran Leyva cartel, Barragan had appeared on a list of the country's most-wanted fugitives. The arrest comes just a month after that of kingpin Edgar Valdez. A government spokesman said: "This is a new and resounding blow against crime, given the high rank and dangerousness of this person inside one of the country's most extensive criminal organisations."
Around 30 soldiers and five armoured vehicles were involved in the raid
Barragan's capture is the fourth major blow delivered to drug cartels by president Felipe Calderon's government in the last year. First came the death of Arturo Beltran Leyva, the top leader of Beltran Leyva cartel known as the "Boss of Bosses", in a raid outside Mexico City in December 2009. Soldiers then killed the Sinaloa cartel's third in command, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, on July 29.
On August 30, police announced the arrest of Valdez, also known as "La Barbie". Barragan faces at least seven investigations for alleged drug trafficking and organised crime, a government security spokesman said. More than 28,000 people have been killed in Mexico since December 2006, when Mr Calderon launched a military offensive against the cartels soon after taking office.
