Mexico’s persistent fight against drug cartels saw a big pay off Sunday when a major drug lord surrendered without a fight.
Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán, also known as “El Grande” (the Big One) or “King Kong,” was arrested Sunday morning without a shot in a raid by 30 members of the Mexican marines at his luxurious residence in the southern central state of Puebla.
Barragán led the Beltran-Leyva cartel, one of Mexico’s seven main drug trafficking groups, the Economist reported.
According to El Sol de Puebla, the authorities also confiscated seven luxury vehicles when they arrested El Grande. Technical Secretary for Mexico’s National Security Council, Alejandro Poiré, called the arrest “a new and powerful blow by the federal government against organized crime,” saying the cartel was “profoundly weakened” by the arrest, according to the Economist.
El Grande is the second important drug lord to surrender in recent weeks, after Edgar Valdez Villareal on Aug. 30.
Villareal, known as “La Barbie,” for his blond hair and blue eyes, led a rival fraction of the same cartel. El Grande had accused La Barbie of betraying their leader, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, or “El Barbas” (the Beard) leading to his death in December in a fight with security forces.
El Grande and La Barbie have fought each other for control of the cartel since Leyva’s death, El Sol de Puebla reported.
Previously drug lords tried to fight arrests by government forces but, according to Jose Luis Vegara, spokesman for the marines, “Drug gangs now know very well the federal government has the superior force needed to arrest them, and that is why they are not putting up resistance,” he said at a press conference, according to AP.
Although all of Mexico’s major cartels have been hit by a government offensive that began in 2006, some say that taking out the cartel leaders may not be the solution as other cartels and new bosses fight to take over the territory when a leader is taken out.
So far over 28,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug war since 2006.
Sergio Enrique Villarreal Barragán, also known as “El Grande” (the Big One) or “King Kong,” was arrested Sunday morning without a shot in a raid by 30 members of the Mexican marines at his luxurious residence in the southern central state of Puebla.
Barragán led the Beltran-Leyva cartel, one of Mexico’s seven main drug trafficking groups, the Economist reported.
According to El Sol de Puebla, the authorities also confiscated seven luxury vehicles when they arrested El Grande. Technical Secretary for Mexico’s National Security Council, Alejandro Poiré, called the arrest “a new and powerful blow by the federal government against organized crime,” saying the cartel was “profoundly weakened” by the arrest, according to the Economist.
El Grande is the second important drug lord to surrender in recent weeks, after Edgar Valdez Villareal on Aug. 30.
Villareal, known as “La Barbie,” for his blond hair and blue eyes, led a rival fraction of the same cartel. El Grande had accused La Barbie of betraying their leader, Arturo Beltrán Leyva, or “El Barbas” (the Beard) leading to his death in December in a fight with security forces.
El Grande and La Barbie have fought each other for control of the cartel since Leyva’s death, El Sol de Puebla reported.
Previously drug lords tried to fight arrests by government forces but, according to Jose Luis Vegara, spokesman for the marines, “Drug gangs now know very well the federal government has the superior force needed to arrest them, and that is why they are not putting up resistance,” he said at a press conference, according to AP.
Although all of Mexico’s major cartels have been hit by a government offensive that began in 2006, some say that taking out the cartel leaders may not be the solution as other cartels and new bosses fight to take over the territory when a leader is taken out.
So far over 28,000 people have died in Mexico’s drug war since 2006.
