Mexican drug cartel figure arrested

Mexican authorities have arrested a top drug trafficker, Cesar Gastelum Serrano, reputed to be a key link in a network smuggling cocaine to the United States via Central America, an official said Sunday.

Gastelum, who was placed on the US list of drug kingpins last year, was arrested early Saturday by Mexican marines and federal police in Cancun.

He was nabbed as he attempted to change vehicles to evade his pursuers, national security chief Monte Alejandro Rubido said in a statement.

In blacklisting Gastelum last year, the US Treasury Department said he led an organization capable of moving tons of cocaine each week into the United States via Honduras and Guatemala.

Rubido said he was a close associate of Ismael Zambada, the current leader of the powerful Sinaloa cartel.

Rubido said Gastelum had maintained a low profile in Cancun, using the beach resort as a base.

No identification was found on him at the time of his arrest, he said.

Authorities recovered a handgun and a white powder that appeared to be cocaine in making the arrest.  

Since Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in December 2012, numerous leaders of the country's feared drug cartels have been arrested, including the Sinaloa cartel's Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman last year.