Mexico police nab gang leader

MEXICO: Mexican police said Wednesday they had captured a drug trafficker linked to the recently arrested US-born kingpin known as "La Barbie," and to the killing of 20 Mexican tourists in September.

Carlos Montemayor Gonzalez, nicknamed "El Charro," or "The Cowboy," was arrested late Tuesday with help from the US Drug Enforcement Administration," said Ramon Pequeno, anti-narcotics division chief.

He is the father-in-law of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, alias "La Barbie," who was arrested on August 30. Montemayor had taken over a gang led by Valdez that had been fighting for control of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel in a region south of Mexico City, Pequeno said.

Montemayor allegedly told police the gang killed 20 Mexican tourists kidnapped in September in Acapulco, mistaking them for members of the rival La Familia cartel.

Police found 18 of their bodies earlier this month in a mass grave outside Acapulco, in a region which has seen a surge in violent attacks in recent weeks.

More than 28,000 people have died in rising drug violence in Mexico since 2006, when the government launched a military crackdown on organized crime.

Mexico City, Thursday, AFP