State media: Mexico captures Zetas cartel leader

By Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN

updated 11:29 PM EDT, Mon July 15, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Miguel Angel Trevino Morales has been captured
• Mexican official: The Zetas leader had $2 million with him
• Known as Z-40, he headed the ruthless Zetas cartel
• Senior State Department official: "It is a very big get"

(CNN) -- A Mexican military helicopter hovered south of the border in the early morning darkness.

Below it, one of the country's most wanted drug lords was riding in a pickup truck.

Mexican authorities say they'd been tracking Zetas cartel boss Miguel Angel Trevino Morales for months. Early Monday morning, their moment came to swoop in.

The helicopter stopped a pickup Trevino was riding in 27 kilometers away from the border city of Nuevo Laredo, said Eduardo Sanchez Hernandez, the Mexican government's security spokesman.

Trevino, known as Z-40, had $2 million dollars and eight weapons with him when he was captured around 3:45 a.m., Sanchez said.

The Zetas leader was riding in the pickup truck with two others, who were also arrested. No shots were fired in the operation, Sanchez said.

Trevino, 40, faces charges of organized crime, homicide, torture and money laundering, Sanchez said. There are at least seven arrest warrants for his capture.

His arrest is the most significant blow to drug trafficking in Mexico since President Enrique Pe?a Nieto took office in December.

Mexican authorities had been offering a reward of 30 million pesos (about $2.4 million) and the U.S. State Department had been offering an award of up to $5 million for information leading to his capture.

In a press conference describing the dramatic military operation late Monday night, Sanchez said Trevino was known for "cruelty" and "the fury with which he attacked his victims."

The Zetas started out as the enforcement arm of Mexico's Gulf cartel, but later split off and formed their own drug trafficking organization.

They have since branched out into extortion, kidnapping and human smuggling.

Last year Mexican authorities announced that they had killed Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, who had been the cartel's leader.

The high-profile arrest came the same day that Mexico's defense secretary and the head of Mexico's navy met with Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A senior State Department official praised Mexican authorities for Monday's arrest.

"Credit goes to the Mexican government for this," the official said. "It is a very big get.

It is unclear whether the arrest will qualify for the U.S. government's reward program, the official said.

"We work well with these guys and congratulate them," the official said.

CNN's Elise Labott, Mariano Castillo, Ariel Crespo and Michael Roa contributed to this report.

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