Every big arrest like this is a big victory. But as we know,over the years, there has always been plenty cut-throat, smaller time dealers waiting in the wings, ready to fill the void.
By Diana Washington Valdez
El Paso Times
EL PASO, Tex — The arrest of Vicente Carrillo Leyva, considered the No. 2 leader of the Juárez drug cartel, is a breakthrough in the Mexican government’s crackdown on drug lords, officials said Thursday.
The 32-year-old suspect, nicknamed the “Engineer,” is the son of Amado Carrillo Fuentes and a nephew of Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, who assumed control of the cartel after Amado reportedly died in 1997.
Carrillo Leyva’s capture came a week after Mexican officials placed him on their list of Mexico’s most-wanted drug dealers and offered a $2.1 million reward for him.
“He is prominent in the Juárez cartel that’s involved in all this violence in Mexico,” said El Pasoan Phil Jordan, a former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official, who had investigated the Carrillo Fuentes organization.
