A suspected regional leader of the Gulf Cartel was arrested yesterday in a joint operation carried out by state and federal agents in Monterrey, Nuevo León.

Héctor Adrián “La Yegua” Lucio Benavides is believed to the head of the Ciclones gang, which works with the Gulf Cartel in the theft of fuel, extortion, kidnapping and trafficking migrants and drugs to the United States.

The Ciclones operate in Nuevo León and Tamaulipas, in the Huasteca region of San Luis Potosí and in northern Veracruz.

The arrest yesterday morning of Lucio and his right-hand man, Christian Aarón Hernández Cabrales, is the result of one year of collaborative investigation by the National Security Commission and local authorities.

Investigations have found that Hernández was in charge of the Ciclones’ kidnapping and drug smuggling logistics.

The two men were apprehended in the Cumbres Elite neighborhood of Monterrey without firing a single shot. The men were in possession of firearms, drugs, mobile phones and cash at the time of their arrest.

National Security Commissioner Renato Sales Heredia told a press conference that “Héctor Adrían is the organization’s main operator, and was considered a priority target by the federal government and by the states of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas.”

Lucio had an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the federal government for homicide and kidnapping, and his accomplice was wanted for the same crimes.

Source: El Universal (sp), La Jornada (sp)