Mexico arrests Knights Templar cartel chief

By msnbc.com staff

Mexican authorities have arrested one of the leaders of the powerful Knights Templar drug cartel on the outskirts of Mexico City during an operation involving dozens of marines.

Ariel Pineda Jim?nez or Pinedo Jim?nez, known as "El Cepill?n," was detained in Xochimilco on Tuesday evening after "intense naval intelligence work," according to a statement by the Secretary of the Navy.

Pineda Jim?nez, who allegedly operated in the central state of Guanajuato, is on the Mexican attorney general's list of most-wanted for his involvement in kidnapping and murder, Mexico's Milenio magazine reported.

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A convoy of at least five trucks carrying armed personal shut?streets in the?area?to safeguard the population,?Milenio reported.? At least 50 marines were used in the operation, it said.

Sources told the magazine that Clinica Ditox, a center for drug addicts and alcoholics, was also searched as part of the operation.

Los Caballeros Templarios, or The Knights Templar, which was formed in 2011 after splitting off from La Familia cartel, is thought to control a large part of the methamphetamine and marijuana trade in the west of Mexico. El Cepill?n is the stage name of a popular clown, children's entertainer and TV personality in Mexico.

The operation was part of the ongoing war on drugs launched by the country's president, Felipe Calderon, in December, 2006.? Since then, an estimated 47,515 people have been killed in the violence, the country's attorney general's office (link in Spanish) reported last week.

F. Brinley Bruton, London-based senior writer and editor

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/18/10182089-mexico-arrests-knights-templar-cartel-chief

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