Mexico arrests Beltran Leyva cartel’s alleged Acapulco boss

Mexican security forces arrested six suspected members of the oncepowerful Beltran Leyva cartel in Acapulco, including the gang’s alleged boss in that violencewracked Pacific resort city, the Federal Police said in a statement.

“Carlos Alberto ‘N,’ alias ‘El Ruso,’ suspected of coordinating drug shipments and sales in Acapulco, was identified among the detainees,” that institution said Friday.

The purported drug boss is suspected of ordering the kidnapmurder of several taxi drivers and drug distributors suspected of working for rival criminal gangs.

He is also accused of other crimes including kidnapping and extortion.

Authorities carried out the raid at a home in an Acapulco subdivision, arresting four men and two women without a single shot fired and seizing weapons, drugs and communications gear, the Federal Police added.

The statement said Carlos Alberto “N” had maintained direct communication with Hector Beltran Leyva, the cartel’s leader until his arrest in 2014, and was suspected of being a key perpetrator of violence in Acapulco, one of Latin America’s murder capitals.

The Beltran Leyva cartel emerged as a spinoff of the powerful Sinaloa cartel following Alfredo “El Mochomo” Beltran Leyva’s arrest.

Alfredo’s brothers believed he had been betrayed by Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman, the notorious Sinaloa cartel kingpin who escaped from a maximumsecurity prison last July but was recaptured earlier this year and is once again behind bars.

The Beltran Leyva mob subsequently formed alliances with other criminal organizations, including the Gulf cartel and Los Zetas, that were battling the Sinaloa outfit.

Since 2010, the Beltran Leyva organization has been weakened by the arrests and killings of many prominent members.