Mexican marines capture alleged regional drug gang boss during raid on house in Acapulco

Mexican marines grab alleged drug gang lieutenant

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s navy says marines raided a house in the Pacific resort of Acapulco and captured a suspected regional chief of a drug gang involved in a bloody turf war in the center and south of Mexico.

A statement Sunday from the navy says troops detained Gamaliel Aguirre Tavira on Saturday, along with two women and another man. It says the marines found six rifles, five pistols, 41 magazines, 2,000 bullets, a grenade launcher and eight grenades.

Authorities say the 35-year-old Aguirre Tavira is a close ally of Edgar Valdez Villarreal, a Texas-born gang boss known as “La Barbie” who leads one of the two factions fighting over control of the Beltran Leyva drug cartel.