SAN FERNANDO, Mexico, April 16 (UPI) -- A local leader of the Zetas drug cartel suspected of playing a key role in the mass slayings in northern Mexico, has been arrested, authorities said Saturday.
Mexican Navy Secretary Mariano Saynez said via Twitter that Mexican marines had taken Omar Martin Estrada-Luna, who is nicknamed "Comandante Kilo" or "El Kilo," into custody along with five other suspects, KGBT-TV, in Harlingen, Texas, reported.
Authorities now have a total of 39 suspects, including 16 San Fernando police officers, in the slaying of 145 people whose bodies were found in a series of graves in San Fernando, Tamaulipas.
Estrada-Luna, a reputed Zetas cell leaders, also is suspected of having a role in the killing of 72 Central and South American immigrants last August.
