Mexico detains suspected money launderer for drug gang

Mexican authorities have arrested a man believed to be the main money launderer of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the country's most powerful drug gangs, the federal police said Sunday.

Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, nicknamed "King Midas," was captured in the southern city of Oaxaca, after he "relaxed his circle of security to vacation in the capital of Oaxaca state," the agency said in a statement.

Alvarez, who serves as the chief financial operator for the Sinaloa Cartel's kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman and second-in-command Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, is estimated to have laundered between 300 million and 400 million U.S. dollars a year for the cartel.

Alvarez usually travels under heavy guard between the Pacific coast states of Sinaloa and Jalisco, the police said.

When intelligence detected Alvarez traveling outside his usual zone with scaled-down security, the authorities decided it was "the right time for the arrest, which took place without the need to fire weapons or put other citizens at risk," the police said.

The authorities issued an order for Alvarez's provisional detention, so that he can be extradited to the United States at the request of a federal court in Washington.

Guzman was recaptured in January, six months after his second prison break, and is awaiting extradition to the United States.

Guzman's arrest left Zambada, 68, as the most senior capo still at large. The U.S. State Department is offering a 5-million-dollar reward for information leading to Zambada's arrest. Endi