Mexico nabs cartel regional leader

Mexican federal police on Friday seized one of the leaders of the infamous Gulf Cartel in the northern state of Tamaulipas, government authorities confirmed.

Marco Antonio Haro Rodriguez was arrested in the city of Altamira, in a joint operation between the federal police, the army and marines, according to a joint statement by the Ministry of the Interior and the Prosecutor General.

A collaborative effort by various federal agencies has revealed that Haro Rodriguez was in charge of cartel activities in Altamira and the town of Panuco in the neighboring state of Veracruz, according to the statement.

During the offensive, the police also arrested Eloy Fernando Del Angel Hernandez, a Gulf Cartel member allegedly in charge of kidnapping and extorting business owners, and Omar Garcia Torres, another presumed cartel member.

According to the statement, the three men were carrying a rifle, two pistols and a grenade when they were captured.

The Gulf Cartel rose in the early 1980s to ship and sell drugs to the United States. However, it has since evolved into a broader organized crime group, carrying out extortion and kidnappings, mainly in the states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Veracruz.

A wave of violence has gripped Tamaulipas in recent years which, according to the Mexican government, is due to a turf war between the Gulf Cartel and its former ally Los Zetas.

Haro Rodriguez and his presumed accomplices have been transferred to Mexico City to the prosecutor general's organized crime unit for interrogation. Endi