Mexico captures cartel leader without a shot

MEXICO CITY — Mexico's military has captured the security and operations chief of the nation's most powerful drug cartel, officials said Thursday, delivering another punishing blow only weeks after U.S. officials rounded up hundreds of cartel members north of the border.

Vicente Zambada allegedly became a top Sinaloa cartel leader last year, with control over logistics and authority to order assassinations of government authorities and rivals. He was arrested before dawn Wednesday at a home in an elite Mexico City neighborhood, said Gen. Luis Arturo Oliver, the Defense Department's deputy chief of operations.

Zambada's father, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, also is considered a top leader of the Sinaloa cartel and is among Mexico's most-wanted suspects.

Last month, President Barack Obama's administration announced that investigators had arrested 755 Sinaloa cartel members in cities and towns all over the United States.

The U.S. is seeking Zambada's extradition on a 2003 trafficking indictment, but he will have to face charges in Mexico before the request can be considered.

"This significantly affects the organization's ability to operate and distribute drugs," said Ricardo Cabrera, who runs the terrorism and drug trafficking unit in Mexico's federal attorney general's office.

The Sinaloa cartel has been accused of paying off top Mexican security officials, including the country's former drug czar, Noe Ramirez, who is accused of accepting $450,000 to tip cartel leaders to police operations. Ramirez has denied the charges.

Gen. Oliver said police and military personnel were closely watching the exclusive Lomas del Pedregal neighborhood after receiving complaints about armed men in cars. They managed to surprise Zambada and his five body guards and arrest them without a shot, seizing three AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifles, three pistols, three cars, and several thousand dollars in cash.

In this case, at least, Zambada apparently didn't know what was coming.

Ismael Zambada's brother, Jesus "The King" Zambada, was arrested last year in Mexico City and accused of helping smuggle cocaine and methamphetamines through the Mexico City airport. He also is under investigation for taking part in the killing of top police officials in Mexico City.

The other two known Sinaloa cartel leaders at large are Joaquin Guzman Loera, known more commonly as 'El Chapo Guzman,' and Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, or "Nacho Coronel."