Mexico drug boss arrest: Beltran Leyva cartel lord arrested

  • 9 years ago
Originally published April 17, 2014

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Arnoldo Villa Sanchez, a senior drug lord of the Beltran Leyva cartel, was arrested by federal police on Tuesday in an upscale Mexico City neighborhood.

Sanchez was second in command of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel and the mayor of a city in the state of Michoacan, once controlled by the Knights Templar criminal gang, the Chicago Tribune reported.

In a news conference held on Wednesday following the arrest, Mexico national security commissioner Alejandro Rubido said Sanchez came to visit Mexico City for the Holy Week and was planning to meet with other suspected criminals.

He was stopped after police had been tracking him for eight months.

According to Rubido, Sanchez was traveling with his bodyguard, identified as Augusto Román Bahena, in the Condesa neighborhood. In the past Sanchez had held business meetings in the city and operated out of expensive hotels and upscale parts of the capital.

During a search of their vehicle police found one short and one long gun, five packages of synthetic drugs, a radio communication device, and fake documents.

Sanchez and Bahena tried to resist arrest, but were eventually detained without shots being fired, La Cronica reported.

Federal police said Villa Sanchez had coordinated a shipment of about 265 kilograms of cocaine previously found in a raid in Mexico City.

According to the Washington Times, city officials have long denied that drug cartels operate in the Mexican capital. They have however acknowledged the city is used as a transit point for drug shipments and retail sales.

According to Rubido, Sanchez, who until his arrest was second in command of the drug cartel to current boss Hector Beltran Leyva, reached his position t