Los Zetas drug cartel leader arrested by Mexican authorities

José María Guizar, one of the leaders of the Los Zetas drug cartel, was arrested by Mexican authorities on Thursday (9 February).

Known as Z43, Guizar was one of the most wanted ringleaders in Mexico and the US and, in 2014, the US State Department offered a reward of up to $5m (£) for information leading to his capture.

Following his arrest, Guizar, who is a US citizen, was charged in drug trafficking indictments in Texas and Viriginia.

According to the US State Department, Guizar was the commander of a faction within the violent Los Zetas organisation, whose major operations was concentrated in the south Mexican state of Veracruz, Tabasco and Chiapas.

"Guizar is responsible for the importation of thousands of kilogrammes of cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States on a yearly basis," a statement on the department's website stated.

The department added that the Los Zetas cartel evolved from a small group of deserters from the Mexican Special Forces, hired by the Gulf Cartel as a security force, into one of the most powerful and violent criminal organisations in Mexico.

Los Zetas is responsible for the trafficking of the Gulf Cartel's cocaine and other drugs from Mexico to the United Sates.

Guizar was among the 122 most wanted criminals by Mexico's Federal Government and the country's Secretary of the Interior, Alfonso Navarrete, thanked the Secretary of the Navy for the arrest.

"I broadly acknowledge the work of investigating the elements of the Secretariat of the Navy , in coordination with the civilian intelligence agencies, for the important capture of one of the 122 priority objectives for the Federal Government," the secretary wrote on Twitter.

The location of Guizar's arrest remains unknown but National Security Commissioner Renato Sales will hold a press conference on Friday to disclose further details about the arrest.