Security forces in Guanajuato arrested the wife of the leader of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel in Celaya on Wednesday.

Karina Mora is the wife of José Antonio “El Marro” Yépez Ortiz, the head of the cartel who has evaded capture for almost a year.

The operation carried out by the army, marines, National Guard, state police and agents from the Guanajuato Attorney General’s Office (FGE) also resulted in the arrests of three others affiliated with the criminal gang.

All four were located in a safe house in which guns, drugs and cash were also found.

Security forces seized four firearms, including an AK-47 and .270-caliber rifle. They also found over 800 rounds of ammunition, loaded magazines, explosives, bulletproof vests, drugs, vehicles and over 69,000 pesos (US $3,700) in cash.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel is one of 11 criminal gangs operating in Guanajuato, and has sown terror in the state in the last two years, fighting for territorial control with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel.

State and federal authorities led an operation against the cartel in the town of the same name where it was based in March of last year, but Yépez escaped capture and went underground.

Guanajuato saw more homicides than any other state in Mexico in 2019 with 3,540.

After seeing state police officers desert the force in droves in search of better pay in the municipalities, Governor Diego Sinhue Rodríguez announced a raise at the beginning of 2020 that would make it the highest-paid state police force in the country.

San Miguel de Allende also gave its police a raise at the beginning of the year, making them the highest-paid in the state.

Sources: Reforma (sp), El Financiero (sp)