MEXICO.- A criminal leader arrested in San Luis Potosí defied the Zetas, the group he belonged to for years, looking for an alliance with the Gulf Cartel, informed the Mexican Marina today.

In the press presentation of Iván Velázquez Caballero, also known as "Z-50" or "El Talibán" (the Taliban), a Secretary of Marina spokesperson explained that the detainee was an alleged Zeta leader in the states of Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, Coahuila and a part of Guanajuato and Monterrey, Nuevo León's capital.

Admiral José Luis Vergara detailed that the arrest of "El Talibán," 42, and of two of his collaborators, Manuel Antonio Guerrero and Carlos Uriel de Santiago Hernández, was made yesterday in a house located in the Tangamanga quarter of the city of San Luis Potosí.

From the trio were seized "two vehicles, two handguns, a long gun, four hand grenades, communication equipment with 20,000 dollars and 12 kilos of green herbs with marijuana attributes."

Vergara stated that Velázquez Caballero was the regional leader of the criminal organization since 2007, had 400 people under his command and was the "financial boss" of the area he controlled for the Zetas.

Formed by Mexican Army deserters in the 90's, this group emerged as an armed wing of the Gulf Cartel but separated from it in 2010 and has since been the protagonist of the more gruesome episodes linked to the traffic of drugs in Mexico.

"Some sources say 'Z-50' defied the second highest in command, Miguel Treviño Morales, alias 'Z-40', starting a battle to individually control the San Luis Potosí plaza," said the Marina spokesperson today.

Authorities presume the quarrel is what unleashed the violence wave responsible for 14 deaths in August near the San Luis Potosí city, the state's capital.

About the criminal history of "Z-50," the Marina states that he started offending when he was 14 years old in Nuevo Laredo, and at 22 he was in that city's jail for car theft.

The Mexican General Attorney's Office (PGR in Spanish) offered 30 million pesos (2.3 millions of dollars) for any information leading to his capture.

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Translation: Karen B.