14 DAY TRIAL // The leader of one of the deadliest drug cartels to rule over Mexican cities has been captured by Mexican armed forces, reports say.
Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, known to law enforcement and the rest of the cartel as El Cuarenta or Z-40 was captured on a dirt road on the Mexican Border with the US.
President Enrique Pena Nieto had made it a point out of trying to capture drug lords in a bid to drive down crime rates in the country.
Miguel Angel Trevino Morales was found in Nuevo Laredo in northern Mexico, according to a statement by government spokesman Eduardo Sanchez relayed by Sky News.
The 40-year-old gang leader was traveling in the back of a truck with an accountant and a bodyguard when he was caught up to. Officials recovered eight weapons and $2m (€1.52 / £1.3m) in cash from the vehicle.
Morales took over the position of head of the Zeta cartel after former leader Heriberto "The Executioner" Lazcano was killed in a shootout with law enforcement. His body was stolen from the funeral home it was kept in, in Coahuila.
Since 2012, he made a name for himself by torturing opponents and gunning down two police officers, beheading them and placing their heads on spikes.
"So that you learn to respect," was written in a message placed alongside their heads. The note was signed with the letter "Z."
He is also known for burning his enemies, using wooden planks to beat them up or placing them in boiling water, making stew or "guiso" while they were still alive.
According to the Independent, he has been arraigned for abducting and killing 265 immigrants. He has previously been arraigned in New York in 2009 for drug and weapon trafficking.
Morales has been charged with murder, torture, kidnapping and drug counts related to shipping massive amounts of narcotics into the States.