Mexican security forces have arrested a senior leader of the powerful Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Audias Flores Silva, also known as "El Jardinero" or "The Gardener", was found hiding in a drainage ditch after 500 members of the security forces closed in on him in the western state of Nayarit on Monday.
Officials said that Flores, 45, was the right-hand man of Mexico's most-wanted man, Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera, who died two months ago as a result of injuries sustained during a clash with soldiers deployed to arrest him.
Flores was among a number of senior figures in the CJNG tipped to succeed El Mencho as the cartel's top leader.
Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch announced Flores's capture on social media and praised "the women and men of Mexico's Navy for their bravery, discipline and dedication in this operation".
