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| - Jose Antonio Yepez, the leader of a powerful fuel-trafficking cartel in Mexico, was captured Sunday in a military operation in the central state of Guanajuato, the government said. The capture of Yepez, also known as "El Marro," was announced on the official Twitter account of Alfonso Durazo, the federal minister of public security. Yepez, considered one of Mexico's most wanted criminals, has built a cartel focused on drilling into pipelines and then selling the fuel on the black market. Durazo said that Yepez, after his early-morning capture, had been transferred to a maximum-security prison in central Mexico state, and would be appearing before the federal judge who issued his arrest order on charges of "organized crime and fuel theft." On July 24, the authorities had arrested a top Yepez lieutenant and head of one of the cartel's cells, Jose "El Mamey" Guadalupe. Thirty cartel members were arrested in June, including Yepez's mother and sister, prompting him to release a video demanding their release. Both women were freed days later. They claimed they had been tortured. Guanajuato is one of Mexico's most important industrial centers. Its wealth and extensive energy infrastructure have drawn the attention of criminal groups including the powerful Jalisco New Generation cartel and the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel. Those two groups have been locked in bloody conflict, turning Guanajuato into one of Mexico's most violent states. sem/llu/bbk
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