For the second time in a month, a drug kingpin has been captured in Mexico, leading to questions about the strategies employed by former president Felipe Calderon.
President Enrique Pena Nieto replaced Felipe Calderon in December. In July, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, alias Z40, thought to be the ruthless head of the notorious Zetas drug cartel, was arrested by Marines after years of evading capture. Now Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino, also known as El Pelón and X-20, and said to be the head of the cocaine and marijuana-smuggling Gulf cartel, has been apprehended.
Security has been stepped in the north of the country to prevent rival gangs fighting to expand their influence into the void left by the capture.
Ex-president Calderon deployed the army across the country and pursued cartel leaders. Many blamed the tactics on the surge of violence seen in the country since. However, Mr Pena Nieto promised to change the policy by tackling cartels through law enforcement on a local level rather than the capture of big-name targets.
The US government was offering a reward of $5m (£3.2m) for information leading to the capture of Ramirez Trevino, while Mexico offered about $3m.
Ramirez Trevino is thought to have taken over as leader of the Gulf Cartel after the arrest of Jorge Eduardo Costilla, known as The Coss, last September. Mexican media reported that the drug baron was arrested by a joint Army and Marines operation in Rio Bravo, in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas.
The interior ministry confirmed the arrest with the following on Twitter:
“This morning, the Mexican Army has captured Mario Armando Ramirez Trevino.” (sic)
On Sunday, a government official said there was now a power vacuum in several of the cartels, which could lead to infighting.
“The government has reinforced the security strategy with the aim of neutralising any eventual actions by other criminal organisations in this region,” interior ministry spokesman Eduardo Sanchez said.
The leader of the Gulf Cartel had been wanted by US authorities since 2006. He is considered “at least as violent” as Miguel Angel Trevino Morales. Analysts say the authorities believed Ramirez Trevino had enough influence to attempt unifying the Gulf and Zeta cartels, which used to be one organisation until its leadership split up in 2010.
The Zetas began as the enforcement arm of the Gulf Cartel.
