Mexico Arrests Senior Member Of Sinaloa Drug Cartel

12/27/2011

(RTTNews) - Authorities in Mexico have arrested a senior member of the infamous Sinaloa drug cartel in an operation carried out in Sinaloa state capital Culiacan, Mexican media reported early Tuesday.
Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, also known as the "Engineer," was reportedly arrested without a single shot being fired. He is suspected of running operations for the Sinaloa cartel in northern Mexico and being the security chief of cartel chief Joaquin Guzman.
Cabrera, wearing a bulletproof vest, was reportedly paraded before journalists in Mexico City late Monday in what has become a common practice for Mexican law enforcement authorities after making every major arrest. He has since been ordered to be held in custody for at least 40 days on suspicion of participating in organized crime and drug trafficking.
Chief Army spokesman General Ricardo Trevilla reportedly refused to say at the press conference whether Cabrera's arrest has brought Mexican authorities any closer to capturing Guzman, but stressed that his capture "will affect the structure and leadership of the Sinaloa cartel."
The Sinaloa cartel, based in Mexico's Pacific coast, is currently one of the most powerful organized criminal gangs in the Americas. Cartel leader Guzman is Mexico's most wanted drug lord and has been on the run since he escaped from a Mexican prison ten years ago.
Earlier this year, the Forbes magazine included Guzman in its list of the world's richest men, reportedly worth more than $US1 billion. He is believed to be hiding in the mountains in the northern state of Durango. The United States had declared a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

The Sinaloa cartel is presently engaged in a fierce turf battle with the Juarez cartel led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes for the control of lucrative smuggling routes to the United States. The two cartels are blamed for most of the recent drug-related violence in Chihuahua and other northern States.
The Mexican government says that more than 45,000 people have died in drug-related violence in the country since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against drug gangs after taking office in December 2006.
Besides fighting drug cartels, Calderon has deployed thousands of troops across the country to check drug-related violence and launched a massive anti-corruption drive named 'Operation Clean-up' to identify and punish public servants having links with drug cartels.
by RTT Staff Writer

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