A leader of Mexico's Zetas drug cartel has been arrested and authorities are expected to present him before the media Friday in Mexico City.
The army issued a statement that Louis Jesus Sarabia Ramon was taken into custody Wednesday.
Authorities say Ramon's group Zetas cartel was engaged in contract murders, kidnappings and extortion in the states of Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas. Both states have been battlegrounds between the Zetas and Gulf cartels.
Mexican prosecutors say just over 47,500 drug-related murders have occurred since December of 2006 when President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug cartels and their expanding criminal activities.
Prosecutors say a large number of the killings occurred in 8 of Mexico's 32 states.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.