MEXICO – Mexican police in Tijuana arrested Manuel Ivanovich Zambrano, alias “El Jimmy”, a suspected Tijuana-cartel trafficker wanted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA, the Public Safety Secretariat said Saturday.

Police located “El Jimmy” on the north side of this town on the U.S. border following a lead from intelligence agents. He sped away in his vehicle when he noticed cops closing in, leading to a chase that ended with his capture not far down the road.

The individual was in possession of 10 rifles and seven handguns, as well as almost 4,000 shells and 145 bullet clips of various calibers.

“El Jimmy” belonged to the group of Gustavo Rivera Martinez, “El Gus,” caught in March in the same Mexican state of Baja California. After that incident, he became head of the group and was responsible for a great part of the drug shipments to the United States.

The man under arrest is considered part of the new generation of drug traffickers operating on the border under the command of “El Ingeniero” (The Engineer), the alias of the person considered kingpin of the Tijuana cartel, Fernando Sanchez Arellano.

He also figures as a right-hand man of the criminal organization’s leadership for his role in drug trafficking and money laundering.

“El Jimmy” is the third-most-wanted drug-trafficking suspect on the DEA’s Tijuana cartel list.

In recent years, the criminal organization has been hit hard by the law and several of its leaders have been arrested and extradited to the United States, but in spite of everything its activities and violence continue.