Mexico captured major drug trafficker Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez on Monday in a second big coup for President Felipe Calderon in his battle against murderous trafficking cartels.
Federal police caught Valdez, a leader of the Beltran Leyva gang based in central Mexico, in a house in a residential area on the edge of the state of Morelos, near Mexico City, a police spokesman told Reuters. He said Valdez put up little resistance.
The attorney general's office also confirmed the US-born smuggler — nicknamed "La Barbie" for his fair complexion and blue eyes —- was caught alive.
His capture comes on the heels of the killing by Mexican soldiers of another drug boss, Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel, in July.
But Valdez's capture may be seen as an even bigger win for Calderon as Valdez could be extradited to the United States, where he has a US$2 million (RM6.27 million) bounty on his head.
"It's a key success. What is very good is that they didn't kill him. That makes a big difference," independent security analyst Alberto Islas said of Valdez's arrest.
Calderon is struggling with growing alarm in Mexico and abroad over his drug war, which has sparked vicious turf battles between rival gangs that have killed more than 28,000 people, mainly traffickers and police, in the 3-1/2 years he has been in power.
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