Mexico captures big drug dealer Guillen

Mario Cardenas Guillen, alias "El Gordo or El M-1", is seen as he is presented by Mexican marines to the media in Mexico City Sept 4, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

MEXICO CITY - Mexican Navy has captured a leader of the Gulf Cartel, a notorious drug trafficking group, Attorney General's Office (PGR) said Tuesday.

Mario Cardenas Guillen was arrested by Navy troops during an operation on Monday in Altamira, a port city in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas of the United States, the PGR said.

The Navy soldiers seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition, including three clips holding 30 bullets each, two grenades, said the PGR. They also uncovered 129,700 pesos (about $9,900) in cash and four small envelopes containing some white powder presumed to be cocaine.

Guillen, one of the top leaders of the Gulf Cartel, is considered the successor of the cartel's Cardenas family.

His brother Antonio Cardenas Guillen, alias "Tony Tormenta," was killed in 2010 during a Mexican Navy operation in Tamaulipas, and another brother, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, was captured in 2003 and extradited in 2007 to the United States, where he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Guillen was arrested back in 1995 on charges linked to organized crime and drug trafficking and spent 12 years in prison.

Mexico's offensive against drug cartels over the past six years has witnessed more than 55,000 drug-related deaths, including the death of some 3,000 police and soldiers.