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Mexican drug arrests come close to drug lord's inner circle

By the CNN Wire Staff
A relative and confidant of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (pictured in a 1993 file photo) has been captured.
A relative and confidant of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman (pictured in a 1993 file photo) has been captured.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Police arrested Victor Manuel Felix and seven other members of the Sinaloa cartel
  • Felix is the father-in-law of one of Joaquin Guzman's children
  • Guzman is one of the most-wanted men in Mexico
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Mexico City (CNN) -- Eight drug traffickers belonging to Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's organization have been captured, including a man presumed to be Guzman's relative and confidant, officials said Wednesday.

Federal police captured Victor Manuel Felix, alias "El Senor," who worked for the Sinaloa cartel and was the leader of one of its financial networks, anti-drug police chief Ramon Eduardo Pequeno said.

Felix is believed to be Chapo's "consuegro" -- a Spanish word for the father-in-law of one's son or daughter.

Felix and seven others were captured in what was called Operation Beehive. Some 500 kilos of cocaine and $500,000 were seized as a result of the arrests, which took place last Friday in the states of Jalisco and Quintana Roo, as well as in Mexico City, authorities said.

Police from Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia worked jointly in the investigation that led to the arrests, Pequeno said.

Guzman is one of Mexico's most-wanted drug kingpins, and has made Forbes Magazine's list of the world's billionaires, with a net worth of about $1 billion.

The Mexican federal police investigation revealed those arrested participated in international drug trafficking and organized crime, police said. The agency conducted undercover operations that led to the discovery of the details of the illegal activities in Ecuador and Mexico.

In the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil, the organization had a cell comprised of members from Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, who used various houses to gather and store drugs before shipping them to Mexico and the United States, the federal police said.

Acting on this information, Ecuadorian police seized about four tons of cocaine and arrested nine suspects in Ecuador.