Alleged Zeta leader arrested in Central America

GUATEMALA CITY -- Reuters news agency is reporting that Guatemalan officials have captured a senior member of Mexico's powerful Gulf cartel.

Daniel Perez Rojas, who is wanted in the United States, and believed to be the second in command of the Gulf cartel's armed wing, the Zetas, was arrested last week in Guatemala City where he was posing as a car salesman.

A former Mexican soldier who helped create the Zetas in the lates 1990s, Perez is accused of involvement in a deadly shootout in southern Guatemala in March, Reuters reported.

Experts told the news agency the arrest of Rojas reflects on how Mexican military operations along the U.S.-Mexico border have pushed drug cartel leaders into hiding in Central America.

Guatemalan officials said they believe Mexican cartels are battling with local cartels for cocaine smuggling routes through Central America into Mexico, Reuters reported.