(Image Source: CNN Mexico)

BY TRACY PFEIFFER
 

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Authorities in Mexico have captured one of the country’s most wanted crime bosses -- Flavio Mendez Santiago, a founding member of the infamous Los Zetas gang.

CCTV outlines crimes allegedly connected to Mendez Santiago and his organization.

“Mendez Santiago was accused of taking part in violent killings to eliminate rival drug gangs and trafficking migrants from Central America. He's also said to have smuggled drugs from Central America and Los Zetas is the most feared gang in Mexico. Their vicious tactics, geographic reach, and expansion into new illegal businesses present a new kind of threat in the drug war.”

The New York Times reports the Zetas are most well known for beheading rival gang members, but they are also relatively new in Mexico. A writer for the Miami Herald gives a brief history.

“Originally members of a Mexican army unit, the Zetas … defected from the military to become enforcers for the [Gulf Cartel] in the late 1990s. Subsequently jettisoning their new employers to become an international organized-crime entity in their own right, in recent months the two groups have waged a brutal battle for control.”

The story has been greeted with cautious optimism in the media, most of which are looking to the big picture to gauge the possible effects of the catch. (Video: KENS)

Bloomberg-BusinessWeek says Mexican authorities have now captured 20 of the 37 on its most wanted list. Mendez Santiago was number 29.

And CNN reports his capture is a step in the right direction, but the Zetas’ top bosses are still at large.

Finally, the Financial Times highlights a statement by Mexico’s government security spokesman, who last week said organized crime is quote -- "being hit like never before” -- but the Times reports, there’s also more sobering news.

“Yet... there is no sign that the violence and killings associated with the war on organised crime will stop any time soon. On the same day as Mr Mendez’s arrest, local press reported that five mutilated bodies were found in a small town near the northern industrial city of Monterrey, their arms and legs hacked from their bodies.”

According to Mexico’s Reforma newspaper, more than 500 people have died due to drug-related violence in just the first few weeks of 2011.

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Transcript by Newsy.