15 July 2013 Last updated at 21:30 ET
Trevino Morales took over the Zetas in October 2012
Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, head of the brutal Zetas drug cartel, has been captured in northern Mexico, according to a US official.
Trevino Morales, known as "Z-40", was captured in Nuevo Laredo, near the US border, the unnamed official said.
He took control of the Zetas following the death of group founder Heriberto Lazcano in October 2012.
Correspondents say his capture would be a success for authorities battling the powerful drug-trafficking cartels.
The Zetas were formed by defectors from a Mexican elite police unit and quickly became infamous for their brutality, which included the beheadings of kidnapped migrants and rival gang members.
Unlike other members of the cartel who defected from the military, "Z-40" was a civilian who worked his way up through the Zetas after they broke away from their original paymasters, the Gulf Cartel, and began running drug-trafficking operations themselves, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.
He is believed to be responsible for carrying out several notorious attacks involving particularly sadistic violence including the torture and murder of 72 Central American immigrants in San Fernando in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
Before he became the group's overall leader, Trevino Morales co-ordinated the gang's important Nuevo Laredo drug corridor into the United States.
Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, head of the brutal Zetas drug cartel, has been captured in northern Mexico, according to a US official.
Trevino Morales, known as "Z-40", was captured in Nuevo Laredo, near the US border, the unnamed official said.
He took control of the Zetas following the death of group founder Heriberto Lazcano in October 2012.
Correspondents say his capture would be a success for authorities battling the powerful drug-trafficking cartels.
The Zetas were formed by defectors from a Mexican elite police unit and quickly became infamous for their brutality, which included the beheadings of kidnapped migrants and rival gang members.
Unlike other members of the cartel who defected from the military, "Z-40" was a civilian who worked his way up through the Zetas after they broke away from their original paymasters, the Gulf Cartel, and began running drug-trafficking operations themselves, says the BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City.
He is believed to be responsible for carrying out several notorious attacks involving particularly sadistic violence including the torture and murder of 72 Central American immigrants in San Fernando in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
Before he became the group's overall leader, Trevino Morales co-ordinated the gang's important Nuevo Laredo drug corridor into the United States.