Mexican soldiers have detained an accused trafficker who has been key to the drug wars in Sonora and is accused of killing a human-rights activist.
The arrest of Jesús Alfredo Salazar Ramírez took place on Thursday Nov. 1 in a town called Huixquilucan, state of Mexico, Mexico's Defense Ministry reports.
Salazar Ramírez is accused in the killing of Nepomuceno Moreno in Hermosillo on Nov. 28 last year. Moreno had joined Javier Sicilia's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity, and Moreno was seeking information on the disappearance of his own son and three others.
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The ministry said Salazar Ramirez is the leader of the group known as "los Salazar" and was responsible for the growing, transport and smuggling of marijuana through Sonora and a sliver of Chihuahua into the United States. Salazar Ramírez was an important lieutenant of Chapo Guzman, the ministry says, and is accused of orchestrating multiple killings.
In September, Mexico's Public Safety Ministry blamed los Salazar and a competing gang for two outbreaks of violence in the Puerto Peñasco-Sonoyta corridor: the July 19 shootout in Rocky Point that left six dead, and a series of gun battles in early September near Sonoyta.
On Sept. 6, Mexican police arrested Adelmo Niebla González, the alleged leader of the other gang, called Los Memos, in those conflicts.
Salazar Ramírez also is wanted in the United States and faces an arrest warrant issued by the U.S. District Court for the western district of Texas. The United States has requested his extradition.
