Mexico City: Mexican authorities have arrested a suspected lieutenant of the Sinaloa drug cartel who is wanted in the United States, officials said Monday.
National Security Commissioner Renato Sales said the suspect, Martin "N," was arrested on Friday in Zapopan, western Jalisco state.
Sales said the suspect crashed his vehicle and injured a police officer when he was captured under a warrant to extradite him to the United States.
While he did not fully identify the suspect, Sales said the US Treasury Department declared in October 2011 that the man and his two brothers ran a drug distribution network and money laundering businesses in Culiacan, Sinaloa state.
The Treasury Department identified him as Martin Guadencio Avendano Ojeda, who allegedly worked under Sinaloa leader Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.
The arrest is a new blow to the Sinaloa drug cartel led by Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who was recaptured in January after escaping from prison last year.
