{"id":9841,"date":"2026-05-11T16:58:50","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:58:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9841"},"modified":"2026-05-11T16:58:50","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T16:58:50","slug":"cartel-figure-captured-in-mexico-as-authorities-recover-drugs-guns-and-7-tigers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news678.top\/?p=9841","title":{"rendered":"Cartel figure captured in Mexico as authorities recover drugs, guns and 7 tigers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The leader of a group linked to a notorious cartel that operates near the U.S. border has been detained in Mexico, officials announced Monday. Authorities said they recovered weapons, drugs, cash and seven tigers during the arrest.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9 Antonio Cortes Huerta, 39, the leader of a cell affiliated with the Northeast Cartel, was arrested in Nuevo Le\u00f3n, stemming from an investigation following the seizure of a boat in Tamaulipas, security minister Omar Garcia Harfuch said in a social media post. A woman, identified as 41-year-old Rosario Flores Alem\u00e1n, was also detained.<\/p>\n

Authorities said they seized unidentified narcotics, cash, 10 guns, 11 vehicles, six motorcycles \u2014 and seven tigers.<\/p>\n

Some Mexican drug cartels are known to house exotic cats<\/span> as symbols of power and, occasionally, to dispose of their enemies.\u00a0 According to a 2023 U.S. indictment<\/span>, some victims of a Sinaloa cartel faction were “fed dead or alive to tigers.”<\/p>\n

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Authorities recovered weapons, drugs and seven tigers during the arrest.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mexico Security Minister<\/p>\n

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Officials said the seized items are linked to Roberto Blanco Cantu who is known as “El Se\u00f1or de los Buques” (“The Lord of the Ships”), a majority shareholder of the company Mefra Fletes. Cantu is accused of smuggling fuel and is affiliated with the Northeast Cartel.<\/p>\n

The Northeast Cartel (C\u00e1rtel del Noreste) \u2014 a remnant of the infamous Zetas crime syndicate \u2014 was designated as a foreign terrorist group by the Trump administration in 2025. Last month, the U.S. issued sanctions<\/span> against three people and two casinos for their alleged links to the cartel.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0U.S. Treasury Department,\u00a0 the cartel is involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs along the border, including fentanyl, crystal meth, heroin and cocaine, and has waged a “campaign of terror on the border.” \u00a0<\/p>\n

“CDN is involved in violent criminal activity on both sides of the border, including the kidnapping and killing of individuals that threaten their criminal enterprise on the southern border,” the department says. “CDN uses its terror-fueled influence in the region to control drug trafficking and human smuggling routes, bribe politicians and journalists, and extort local businesses and shipments flowing to and from the United States at the busiest inland point of entry for trade in the United States.” \u00a0<\/p>\n

The latest arrest comes as Mexico continues its crackdown on cartels amid pressure from the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Mexican military captured<\/span> one of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel’s top leaders in the northwest of the country, two months after its leader “El Mencho” was killed.<\/p>\n

Just days before that, Mexican soldiers captured three of the closest allies<\/span> of drug lord Joaquin\u00a0“El Chapo”\u00a0Guzman’s brother in an operation backed by U.S. intelligence.<\/p>\n

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