Mexico Under Siege

BELTRAN LEYVA BROTHER IS HELD

The Capture of Carlos, Soon After the Death of Cartel Chief Arturo,
Is a Blow to the Sinaloa Drug Trafficking Gang

By Tracy Wilkinson, Reporting from Torreon, Mexico

Mexican federal police Saturday announced the capture of Carlos
Beltran Leyva, an alleged major drug trafficker whose brother, cartel
leader Arturo Beltran Leyva, was killed in a shootout with Mexican
marines last month.

The capture of Carlos Beltran Leyva is a potentially significant gain
for authorities because of the intelligence he could provide and
because it further weakens one of Mexico's leading and most violent
drug-smuggling organizations.

Beltran Leyva was captured Wednesday in Culiacan, capital of Sinaloa
state, which is an illicit drug center and birthplace of the Beltran
Leyvas, along with many of Mexico's top traffickers. Police said he
was located through "intelligence work" but did not provide details.
He presented a false driver's license when confronted, police said,
but eventually acknowledged his true identity.

Beltran Leyva was reportedly discovered in one of the high-walled
neighborhoods where the super-rich live and was immediately
transferred to Mexico City.

Things turned out very differently for his brother Arturo, the
reputed leader of the cartel founded by the five Beltran Leyva
brothers. On Dec. 16, Arturo Beltran Leyva was killed along with six
of his bodyguards in a fierce shootout with Mexican marines in the
town of Cuernavaca, just south of Mexico City. Beltran Leyva and his
crew were tracked to a luxury apartment tower where they were cornered.

One marine was also killed in the raid. In a chilling coda to the
episode, gunmen thought to be working for the Beltran Leyva gang
executed the dead marine's mother, two siblings and aunt in an act of
revenge that outraged the country.

On Saturday, authorities said they had arrested a purported member of
the Zetas gang allied with the Beltran Leyva cartel who confessed to
killing the marine's family.

In the arrest of Carlos Beltran Leyva, police said they confiscated
two guns, ammunition and cocaine.

Since Arturo Beltran Leyva's death, speculation has centered on
whether there would be a violent power struggle within the organization.

Once allies with the powerful Sinaloa cartel led by Joaquin "El
Chapo" Guzman, the Beltran Leyva group broke off ties last year and
has been locked in a ferocious territorial war since. Arturo Beltran
Leyva held Guzman responsible for a tip that led authorities to the
capture of another brother, Alfredo, in January 2008.

Authorities say the Beltran Leyva organization has been responsible
for numerous killings and bought off top government officials who
alerted traffickers ahead of military raids.