Mexican authorities arrest leader of Gulf cartel cell

Mexican authorities arrest leader of Gulf cartel cell

2010-12-23 11:19:51 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- Mexican authorities on Wednesday announced the arrest of Martin Armando Briones Muñiz, the alleged leader of a gunmen cell at the service of the Gulf cartel.

Federal police said Briones, who is also known as Eduardo Flores Borrego or 'El Negro', was arrested in the Las Fuentes neighborhood in Reynosa, a city in northern Mexico's Tampaulipas state. He was the alleged leader of a group of gunmen who were dedicated to commit murders, armed confrontations and briberies.

Briones, who is 40, was detained outside a restaurant along two individuals from his cell: Jose Alfredo Guerrero Villalpando, 40, and Hector Enrique Zapata Escamilla, 23. The two individuals were gunmen with Briones' group. Zapata was also in charge of monitoring the actions of police forces.

According to authorities, "El Negro" and his group were in charge of eliminating rival groups, mainly related to "Los Zetas," and its members operated in many locations throughout Tampaulipas state. Briones' group consisted of 32 gunmen.

The December 17 arrest was made as the three suspects were seen exiting a restaurant in possession of high-caliber weapons. After that, police forces identified one of them as Briones and were immediately secured as well as his companions.

In the last few months, Mexico has increased its efforts in the war against drug cartels. One of the most prominent arrests took place last August as drug kingpin Edgar "La Barbie" Valdez Villarreal was detained in a residential area in the state of Mexico, which borders the capital of Mexico City.

Valdez Villarreal faces drug trafficking, kidnapping and arms possession charges, but he also faces an extradition process pursuant to a provisional arrest request from a U.S. court. He worked for the Sinaloa drug cartel and the Beltran Leyva cartel; the leader of the latter was killed by Mexican law enforcement in 2009.

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