'El Chapo's' alleged Sonora state drug cartel boss arrested

MEXICO CITY, March 28 (UPI) -- Mexican police have arrested an alleged cartel boss accused of working for drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel.

Raul Beltran Quintero -- the alleged cartel boss of Mexico's Sonora state -- was arrested in the city of Caborca on Saturday, the Sonora Public Safety Secretariat said in a statement on Sunday. Eight other suspected Sinaloa Cartel members were also arrested, including a minor.

In the operation, officials seized eight weapons, ammunition and two vehicles -- a 2012 Toyota FJ Cruiser and a 2007 Cadillac Escalade, which were reported stolen in the United States.

Quintero, 50, is the brother of Manuel Beltran Quintero, who was arrested in 2014 on drug charges.

Guzman's Sinaloa Cartel is credited with dominating the illegal drug market in nearly the entire United States, according to a report by the Drug Enforcement Administration. The report states the criminal organization is most powerful "along the West Coast, through the Midwest and into the Northeast."

Guzman was captured in the city of Los Mochis in his home state of Sinaloa on Jan. 8 after escaping from Mexico's Altiplano Federal Prison on July 11.

Police also recently arrested Juan Manuel Alvarez Inzunza, 34, who is alleged to have laundered about $4 billion in the last ten years for the Sinaloa Cartel. He was arrested while vacationing in the southern state of Oaxaca.