DEA voices fears over Zetas

The Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas has been singled out by the United States for concern at an international anti-drug conference in Cancun, Quintana Roo.
Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator Michele M. Leonhart voiced American fears over the cartel at the 38th International Drug Control Conference in Cancun on Tuesday, El Universal reports. Her fears stem from the fact that Los Zetas has extended its operations into Central America. She mentioned possible ties between the cartel and "terrorist or guerrilla organizations" and said that Los Zetas are moving drugs through new routes (such as Africa) to Europe.
Leonhart compared the cartels in general to "caged animals" attacking each other, according to Manrique Gandaria of El Sol de Mexico. The newspaper also mentioned that she said that while the level of violence in Mexico may indicate otherwise, it is a signal of success against organized crime.
There were 103 countries represented at the conference. Among the Mexican officials present was public safety secretary Genaro Garcia Luna.
84-year-old man dies in custody
Ensenada.net has a disturbing story about an 84-year-old man, Ramon Duran Munoz, who died after being transported to a prison in Ensenada.
Duran Munoz was detained by the army for about a month under charges of arms stockpiling and narcotrafficking. He was arrested at his home in Maneadero without a search warrant and placed in custody in Tijuana. While in custody -- first under the army and then under the Secretary General of the Republic -- he was denied medication for the diabetes and other chronic degenerative ailments from which he suffered.
He was to be brought before a judge in Ensenada, but after his arrival at a prison there, his condition deteriorated and he was taken to the city's general hospital in an ambulance. Shortly after arriving at the hospital, he died.

Mexican feds detain suspect in ICE agent's death

The main news out of Mexico today:
In San Luis Potosi, federal police have detained a man suspected in the drug-connected killing of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent Jaime Zapata. The announcement came today out of the office of Secretary of Public Security (SSP) Genaro Garcia Luna.
The suspect, Mario Jimenez "El Mayito" Perez, is a 41-year-old man who was taken into custody on March 5 along with 16 others -- who have nicknames like "La Flaca" (The Skinny One) and "El Duende" (The Elf) and are also accused of having ties to Las Zetas. He is accused of being a financial operator for the drug gang Los Zetas.
Zapata was killed in an ambush in San Luis Potosi in February. However, the SSP's office did not provide specifics of just how El Mayito was connected to Zapata's death, according to Alfredo Mendez of La Jornada.
El Pulso (SLP) has the story as does El Universal.
In Aguascalientes, capital of the Mexican state of the same name. "El Sol del Centro" reports that organized crime members south of the city have killed a man who is apparently in his 40s, a taxi-cab driver, known as "El Gordo," and linked to organized crime. The killing occurred on the Panamericana highway. It is the 14th death linked to organized crime in Aguascalientes this year.