Mexico Abuzz Over Major Arrest
Headlines across both countries this morning focus on the capture Monday of Zetas cartel leader Miguel Angel Treviño Morales.
Since he took office this year, President Enrique Peña Nieto has downplayed the captures of drug gang members. With a $5 million U.S. bounty or not, Treviño's arrest was no different: Reforma shows him walking alongside a guard without handcuffs.
Along with running a criminal enterprise, Treviño will be charged with the murders of 265 immigrants who were found in two mass graves in the small town of San Fernando, Tamaulipas. The extent of his criminal legacy dates back to the formation of the Zetas when they were created as the strongarm of the Gulf Cartel.
Analysts say the arrest is a political victory for Peña Nieto, who has been criticized for minimizing the power and violence of the cartels in Mexico. Others like Insight Crime are predicting a fragmenting of the old cartel structure.
Mexican news agency El Universal is already showing the portrait of Treviño's heir: his brother, Omar Treviño.
