Mexico captures leader of Juarez cartel

MEXICO CITY - Agence France-Presse

Soldiers stand guard atop vehicles along a road where Juarez Cartel leader, Jesus Aguayo, was detained on Friday by Federal troops in Villa Ahumada in the northern state of Chihuahua April 17, 2015. Mexican authorities said on April 19, 2015 they had captured a leader of the Juarez Cartel wanted by the United States government who took the helm after the organization’s long-time chief was nabbed last year. The leader, Aguayo, was detained on Friday by Federal troops in Villa Ahumada in the north

The head of the once-powerful Juarez drug cartel has been captured, officials said on April 19, confirming the most recent in a string of victories against Mexico’s narco-traffickers.

Authorities captured Jesus Salas Aguayo, 38, on Arpil 17 at his ranch in the northern Mexican village of Villa Ahumada, some 120 kilometers from Ciudad Juarez.

Mexico’s top law enforcement official, Monte Alejandro Rubido, in a press statement on April 19 said Salas Aguayo was one of the “top targets that the government had set its sights on.”  

Salas Aguayo became the head of the Juarez cartel after the capture last October of its then-leader Vicente Carrillo Fuentes alias “El Viceroy.” Salas Aguayo also was being sought by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for narcotics trafficking, and in connection with a 2009 murder in the city of El Paso, Texas which borders Ciudad Juarez.