Suspected drug lord known as 'El Taliban' arrested in Mexico - The Sun

A TOP Mexican drug lord known as "El Taliban", thought to be responsible for several massacres, has been arrested.

Ivan Velazquez Caballero, said to be a member of the feared Zetas cartel, was swooped on by the country's marines.

He had allegedly been fighting a bloody internal battle with the cartel's boss which had caused dozens of deaths.

Velazquez Caballero was shown off to the world in a press conference called by Navy bosses.

He was displayed handcuffed alongside two alleged accomplices and a table of guns and other contraband seized during his arrest.

Velazquez Caballero is the third alleged cartel leader to be arrested this month as government officials try and crack down on trafficking.

All are accused of leading factions of the Gulf Cartel or Zetas, former allies now feuding over smuggling routes into the US.

The alleged heads of the two main factions of the Gulf group, Mario Cardenas Guillen and Jorge Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, were also seized in Navy operations in northern Mexico.

The Zetas are one of Mexico's two most powerful cartels. The head of the other, Sinaloa cartel head Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, remains free, and there have been far fewer arrests of his associates.

Navy spokesman Jose Luis Vergara said marines were conducting patrols in a neighbourhood in the city of San Luis Potosi when they spotted a group of men acting suspiciously.

The marines followed the men into a house and pinched Velazquez Caballero and two other men inside.

Also known as "Z-50," Velazquez Caballero had a £1.4million reward on his head.