Alleged top Tijuana cartel figure nabbed

TIJUANA, Mexico, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A suspected top deputy in Tijuana's Arellano Felix drug cartel has been arrested near the U.S. border, officials say.

Mexican federal police said Saturday that Manuel Ivanovich Zambrano Flores, known as El Jimmy, was arrested outside a body shop in Tijuana's Zona Norte, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The officials said Ivanovich is suspected of being a key assistant to cartel leader Fernando Sanchez-Arellano, allegedly in charge of the organization's money laundering operations, its finances and its drug smuggling into the United States.

Eileen Zeidler, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's San Diego spokeswoman, told the Union-Tribune that although Ivanovich, 32, does not face charges in the United States at the moment, "that certainly could change down the line."

The suspected cartel figure is being held in Mexico on suspicion of drug trafficking, organized crime and firearms violations, the newspaper said.