Mexico captures leader of bloody Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican security forces have captured drug gang leader Adán Ochoa, known as “El Azul,” who headed a cartel central Mexico blamed for fanning a surge of violence this year.

Guanajuato’s governor Diego Sinhue announced Ochoa’s capture on Twitter on Wednesday night.

Ochoa rose to the head of the Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel, a Guanajuato-based outfit, after Mexican security forces captured the gang’s former boss, Jose Antonio Yepez, known as “El Marro,” in August.

The Santa Rosa de Lima Cartel has been engaged in a bloody struggle for supremacy in the state with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most powerful and violent gangs, leading to soaring violence in the region.