Mexico nabs man called drug cartel's state leader

GUADALAJARA, Mexico (AP) — Police arrested a man Tuesday who they say headed the operations of the "La Familia" drug cartel in the western state of Michoacan.

Abel Valadez Oribe, 32, was reportedly heading for a cockfight when police stopped his car and arrested him, authorities said. They said police were tipped to his whereabouts by several informants.

Police said that Oribe, known as "El Clinton," was allegedly the mastermind behind several murders, including the assassination last year of Salvador Vergara, the 33-year-old mayor of Ixtapan de la Sal, a popular weekend retreat.

U.S. authorities arrested more than 300 people Friday in a sting focused on La Familia.

Also on Tuesday, Mexican police found dismembered remains of a man in plastic bags by the side of a road in Uruapan, another city in Michoacan, which is one of the areas most affected by drug gang violence. He was believed to around 30 years old.

Cracking down on another cartel, police said Tuesday that they had detained five suspected associates of the Gulf drug cartel for alleged involvement in violent clashes that killed four people in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo last week.

The Hidalgo state prosecutor's office said the suspects are affiliated with the Zetas, the drug ring's infamous hit men. It said the five had firearms and a grenade when police apprehended them last Thursday.

A federal judge ruled they can be held for 40 days while authorities continue the investigation.

Drug gang violence has surged in Mexico since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon took office and ordered a nationwide crackdown on drug traffickers.